Strong Reasons Part Two: Whirlwind of Passion
by jrrm64
Summary: Tony awakes from the coma and decides to take off on a road trip leaving everyone behind. Unfortunately, two people are despearate to find him: a terrorist bent on vengeance and Ziva.
1. Chapter 1

Part Two

Strong Reasons:

Whirlwind of Passion

_The Whirlwind of Passion, you must acquire and beget_.

- Shakespeare

Prologue

Two months and twenty-three days in a coma and he finally woke up. Dr. Tanner was standing over him checking his vitals as he tried to adjust his eyes to seeing. He felt weak as a kitten and tired. _How can I feel so tired after being unconscious for so long? _

Dr. Tanner looked behind him and nodded. Jackie Vance walked forward and smiled at him.

"Hey, Tony, I was reading to you when you woke up. I was reading Raymond Chandler to you," she smiled.

"Mrs. Vance," he rasped.

"Call me Jackie. And don't talk. Your throat and mouth are dry. It's been a while since you used them," she said.

"I'll have a nurse bring him ice chips to chew on. That will help," Dr. Tanner said. "I'll let you talk to him a bit, get him used to be aware and awake."

As Tanner left Jackie Vance came closer and held his hand.

"One of your teammates would have been here but Leon had to send them to Hawaii for some important reason. You should have seen how angry Gibbs and Ziva were. They didn't want to leave you, but I promised to take care of you," she said.

A nurse came in with a cup full of ice and handed it to Jackie for Tony.

"Sit up," he croaked.

"Here," the nurse said and then she grabbed a control and adjusted his bed so he was sitting up. "You're going to need to work to get your strength back."

Jackie gave him the ice chips and he sucked one into his mouth and started to let it melt. Maybe he had forgotten what pizza tasted like, but the melting ice turning into cold water in his mouth was the most glorious thing he tasted in his life.

"I'm going to have to let Leon, Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy know you're awake," she said. "They are going to want to throw a party. We were all so worried about you."

"Why?" his hoarse voice asked.

"Tony, you should know why. You are loved. Your teammates have been taking turns sitting with you these past months," she said.

He tried to smile but he didn't feel loved. Maybe it was all that time undercover, but he felt alone and isolated. The thought of someone loving him just didn't seem right.

He brought his hand up to his face to scratch his jaw and felt that he was clean shaven. Suddenly, he wondered who wanted him to be clean shaven while in a coma. It was probably Gibbs.

"Do mind if I step out and call everyone?" she asked.

"No," he answered.

Jackie stepped out of the room to make some calls. Tony was glad to be alone. He wanted some space to adjust to being awake. When he was in a coma he heard voices, caught pieces of this and that, but mainly it was like drifting in a black peaceful ocean.

He sucked another ice chip into his mouth. _Was Talib in custody? Was it really over? _He cleared his throat but all that did was make his throat more clogged. Clearing his throat with more force he finally felt as if he was able to talk. Jackie came back into the room.

"Abby and Jimmy will be right over and Leon and Ducky will be coming to visit later,' she said.

"Thank you," he said.

"Your voice is already sounding better," she said.

NCIS

"Oh, my God, Tony, you are finally awake," Abby creamed as she came bursting into his room.

She stopped short of diving into his bed with him to hug him because he was sitting eating a bowl of clear broth. Tony looked and saw that she was dressed in a short, mid thigh short, black dress with her hair in pigtails and her favorite studded dog collar on.

Instead of hugging him, she sat down on the side of his bed and placed her hand on his thigh and squeezed. Her shiny green eyes met his sea green eyes and she immediately saw the distance and pain in them.

"Tony, what's wrong?" she asked.

"He is coping with being awake, my dear," said Ducky as he stood at the foot of the bed with his fedora in hand and his favorite trench cat still on.

Tony smiled as he saw Ducky's bow tie was perfectly tied, a red one with subtle gold dots set a against a blue dress shirt. It was classic Ducky. He hadn't changed, but Tony had. Standing beside him was the bespectacled and smiling Jimmy.

"Ducky, Jimmy," he tried a smile.

He knew it wasn't much of one, but what could they expect after almost three months in a coma.

"It's more than that," Abby insisted. "What's wrong, Tony? I know you. There is something bothering you."

Tony looked at her and tried to be the man she expected but he was either gone or buried deep inside him. Ducky could sense his discomfort.

"Abigail and Mr. Palmer, why don't you two go down to the hospital's shop and get Anthony some reading material. He might want to catch up on the world now that he has rejoined us," Ducky said.

Jimmy understood that Ducky wanted to speak to Tony alone.

"Come on, Abby, I never know what to buy," he said.

"Okay," she sighed. "I'll be right back, so don't go back to sleep. Stay awake."

Abby and Jimmy exited leaving Ducky. Tony took another taste of his broth. It madehim miss food, which he supposed was a good thing.

"You have gone through hell and the world has changed for you but not for those you left behind," Ducky stated. "It must be off putting to say the least."

"I'm glad they're not here," he admitted.

"I would suppose dealing with Jethro and Ziva would be overwhelming for you right now," he said.

"I don't think I could deal with them," he said.

"You don't have to worry about that for now. They will be in Hawaii for at least four weeks. Pearl's main MCRT were murdered for someone unknown. The Director sent Gibbs' team along with Stan Burley subbing for you to fill in for the team while it is being replaced. Of course, they are also investigating the death of those valiant agents," explained Ducky.

"I'm glad Stan is with them," Tony said. "The boss always liked him."

Ducky could sense the meaning behind the sentence: he liked him, so he was the perfect replacement for me. Tony wasn't sure if he was returning to the team.

"Maybe I should call Dr. Cranston and tell her you are awake. She has been worried about you and would love to talk to you," Ducky said.

"I don't want to talk to her, Ducky. I'm not in a sharing mood," he said.

"It was that bad," Ducky said.

Instead of answering Tony smiled sadly. Ducky walked aroudn to Tony's right side and placed his hand on Tony's right arm.

"I have experienced many events in my life which have deadened, if not killed, part of my soul. Each time I believed that I would never be the same and I was right," he told him. "We either grow from these experiences or they change us for the worse. I have faith that you will grow, Anthony."

"Thank you, Ducky," he said.

NCIS

Once he had enough strength to walk and take care of himself, he was ready to be released from the hospital. His apartment was rented, but Gibbs had arranged to put his things in storage and Vance got him temporary housing on the Navy yard. During this period he avoided all calls from Hawaii, even though they came every day. Once, sometimes twice, a day either Gibbs or Ziva would call him. He wasn't ready to talk to either one of the them yet.

He did take his visits from Ducky, Jimmy, and Abby, who was told not to push him about talking to Gibbs by Ducky. After leaving the hospital two weeks of rehab had him walking with enough stamnia that he at least looked like he was ready to return to duty. Yes, he was still thinner, his hair longer, and he preferred a three to five day growth of beard.

Waking up on a Monday morning he dressed in jeans and a pink oxford shirt along with a pair of suede dirty bucks and a black sued jacket. Jimmy had returned his GTO to him, which he held on to for him while he was undercover. Tony drove the short distance from his temporary housing to the NCIS Headquarters. He parked in his old spot and headed up to the bullpen.

In a week Gibbs, Ziva, McGee and Stan were due to be back, so Tony wanted to get some get things settled with Vance before they returned. Getting off the elevator, he walked through the empty bullpen that belonged Gibbs' MCRT. He passed by his desk and saw some of his things were stil there. Continuing up to the mezzanine he stopped at Cynthia's desk.

"Tony, it's great to see you again," she smiled.

"Thanks. Is it possible for me to see Vance?" he asked.

She picked herher phone and dialed him: "Agent DiNozzo is here to see you."

She hung up and nodded: "He'll see you."

Tony walked into Vance's office. Much to his surprise the Director was glad to see him. He got up from behind his desk and offered him his right hand. Tony shook it.

"You are looking better, a little scruffy, but better," said Vance.

"You must thank your wife for all she did for me, Director," he said.

"She wanted to do it. We all did. I read Sports Illustrated to you and the sports page," he said ten motioned him to sit at the conference table.

"Jarvis has resigned his position and Garrison has taken a job at Homeland Security," Vance said as he sat down.

"Glad to hear it," Tony said as he sat down then stared at the table top.

Vance noticed this. The bold, brash, and sometime annoying DiNozzo was nowhere to be seen. Instead he was looking at a man, who looked lost.

"What can I do for you, Tony?" he asked using his Christian name which he seldom did.

"I'd like to take all my accrued vacation, comp time, and sick time and even some approved time without pay," he said.

Vance got up and walked over to his desk and checked on his computer Tony's file. His undercover op accrued him some serious comp time and even with his recent sick leave he had four months coming to him.

"How does five months sound?" he asked Tony.

"About right. By the end of that I should have made up my mind," he said.

"Okay, it's now almost the end of May. I don't expect to see you in the office until the November," said Vance.

"I probably won't take the whole five months, but I like having the it in case I need it," Tony said.

"You've earned it, if not more," said Vance.

"I'll be out of the temporary housing this weekend," said Tony.

Vance returned to the conference table and sat down.

"Now do you want to explain to me what you are doing?" he asked.

"I am rethinking my life," Tony answered. "I'm not too sure I want to remain at NCIS. The time off will give me a chance to decide what I really want to do."

"You've been one f the most loyal agents we have. What's changed for you, Tony?" Vance asked, even though he guessed the answer. He was trying to give the man a chance to voice his disappointment and pain.

"I've been used one too many times," he said then shook his head slowly. "That and Jarvis told me that he owned me. I don't like being owned."

"I know Gibbs will hold your senior field agent position for as long as necessary," said Vance.

"He doesn't need to," said Tony.

"Why?"

"If I do return I'll be requesting a new assignment," he said.

"Really? This surprises me," said Vance. "I think it will surprise your team, also."

"It hasn't been my team in a long time, Director. I've been gone a long time," Tony said.

"It's your decision, Tony," said Vance, sensing Tony's defensiveness.

"Thank you, sir," he said.

"Where are you going?" asked Vance.

"I thought I'd hit the road. Drive around and get lost for awhile," he said.

"Do you have the financial wherewithal to do this?" asked Vance.

Tony smiled: "Early in my career as a cop I was tagged as the rich boy who wanted to slum it, so I kept the trust fund my mother left me quiet. I didn't use it very often, just for the occasional car upgrade and, of course, suits. Not many federal agents wear fifteen hundred dollar and two thousand dollar suits like me. Yeah, I'm pretty much all set. My mother's family was always wealthier than my father's."

"Do you need anything from me?" asked Vance.

"I'd like to keep my ID and badge while I'm on leave. They might come in handy on the road," he said.

"They belong to you until you decide to give them up," Vance said.

Tony stood up and offered Vance his right hand. They shook hands.

"Where to now?" he asked Tony.

"To say goodbye to Abby, Ducky, and jimmy and then I'm off," he said.

NCIS

Tony gathered Abby, Ducky and Jimmy in the autopsy. Abby, who was looking like a Goth cheerleader, was bouncing up and down waiting for what Tony had to say, while Ducky and Jimmy waited patiently in their scrubs.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'll be gone for awhile," he said.

"Where are you going?" Abby asked quickly.

"I'm hitting the road in my car and just going," he said. "I have a lot to deal with and to decide and a nice long road trip seems the best way for me to think about things."

"How long, Tony?" Jimmy asked.

"I talked to Vance and he gave me five months. I probably won't use them all, but it's good to know I have as much time as I need," he said.

Abby's eyes filled with tears. She walked over and gave him a hug.

"Please get better and return to us," she said.

"I'll try to, Abs," he said.

"Tony," Jimmy started to say something, but Tony stopped him.

"I expect to hear that Breena is pregnant when I return," he said. "I wouldn't mind be an uncle."

Jimmy smiled. Ducky, who had his arms crossed, uncrossed them.

"Abigail and Mr. Palmer, can I have a moment alone with Anthony?" he said.

"Okay, Ducky," said Abby, who gave Tony a kiss on the cheek and left.

"Tony," Jimmy shook his hand then gave him an awkward hug and followed Abby.

"You aren't trying to convince me to stay and see Rachel instead?" askd Tony.

"No, Anthony, I'm not. I understand what you are doing. You feel overwhelmed. You have done things you never thought you'd have to do as one of the good guys. You probably violated several of your own moral codes in fulfilling this assignment and it cost you dearly. I understand what you are doing," Ducky said. "But I also want you to remember where you came from and it is not from the loins of your father. It is from this dyfunctional family we have developed here and as the Grandfather of this family I can admit that you are my favorite grandchild. We both were born with the gift of the gab. What I am requesting is that you stay in contact with me. I will not tell the rest where you are or that you even call. I would rest easier at night knowing you are doing fine. These past nine months have been difficult for me not knowing if you were alive or dead, so I ask that you do an old man a favor," he said.

"Expect to hear from from time to time, Ducky," he said and then gave the older man a hug.

"When do you leave?" Ducky asked.

"Tomorrow."

NCIS

Tony understood Leroy Jethro Gibbs better than anyone other than Ducky. Once Gibbs found out he'd taken off he'd have Ziva and McGee track him, so he decided to take precaution. The first thing he did was withdraw fifty grand in cash for his trip budgeting himself ten grand a month. Of course this meant motel, fast food, and pubs, which he had nothing against. Next, he parked his GTO in a long term garbage paid for five months then he went out and bought a black 1969 Dodge Challenger in Baltimore then he used his connections to plates and everything else he needed quickly.

He stayed in Danny's condo, which he had kept after his death. Danny had left it to him and Tony decided to keep it as a safe house of sorts. At Danny's he checked on what he was bringing with him: causal clothes, NCIS ID and badge, backup gun which was a 9mm Beretta, fifty grand in cash, and GPS. He turned off his old smartphone and activated his new smartphone, an i-Phone. In the morning he was ready to hit the road with his first stop being LA to thank Hettie, Kensi and the rest of OSP for what they had done for him.

NCIS

"Goddamn it, Abby, he did what?" roared Gibbs.

Ziva stood on the tarmac with McGee watching and listening to Gibbs as he took the call from Abby. They were about to board a C-130 Hercules Cargo plane to San Diego, where they would switch to a C-20 Gulfstream for the rest of the ride back to DC.

It had been a hellacious month where they investigated the murders of a MCRT while filling in for it. They discovered that the murders were done by a former NCIS agent who was fired by the lead agent of the MCRT.

"He looks pissed," remarked Stan, who was subbing for Tony.

"Only DiNozzo gets him that angry," observed McGee.

"It better not be about Tony," said Ziva.

The last time she had seen Tony he was still comatose. When he woke up she called and called him but he never took her call. At first she was infuriated by this but after the first week of his ignoring her calls she started to worry that their friendship, their relationship, was now damaged beyond repair.

Her mind drifted back to the day in the garage when he did his best to turn Gibbs, Abby, and her against him. He pushed her so hard that she resorted to violence putting him down on his knees, spitting in his face, and then slapping him harder than she had ever slapped another person in her life. All she could remember afterwards was how defeated and miserable he looked when she left him there on his knees.

In hindsight she saw how he pushed every button just right to provoke her insecurities. No one knew her better than Tony.

"DiNozzo can get him that angry because he's that attached to him," said Stan.

"When Tony is in trouble Abby says he gets into his grumpiest poppa bear mode," smiled Gibbs.

Ziva saw Gibbs clench his jaw and run his left hand through his sliver and grey hair. He hung up his cellphone then glared at his team.

"What's wrong, boss?" asked Stan.

He walked over to them and turned his attention to Ziva.

"Abby called to tell me that DiNozzo walked into the Director's office, asked for five months leave, and then took off on an extended road trip," he said.

His grey blue eyes were filled with concern. Ziva looked back at him with chocolate brown eyes filled with a pain he recognized. She loved him and Gibbs knew it. And she was filled with regrets and he understood that.

"Let's get on the plane," he ordered. "McGee, once we are back in DC I want you to start tracking DiNozzo."

"Yes, boss," said McGee.

Ziva followed by the team as they walked up the ramp and onto the plane. Sitting down on the bench seating, she strapped herself in. _I am going to track him down. I need to track him down. _

Gibbs sat across from Ziva. He looked at her face and saw a woman, who was desperate. _What the hell were you thinking, DiNozzo? _

NCIS

The plane was coming in for a landing at Montreal-Trudeau Airport. Karim Al Hamid looked at his passport it. The name on it was Abdul Abbas. His father had hired the best forger and counterfeiter he could find to make his passport and license. From Montreal he'd take a train down into New York then he would begin his personal Jihad on Anthony DiNozzo. If he had to hire people to kill him instead of killing him personally, he would. Ali Ibn Talib deserved vengeance and he would be the bringer of vengeance.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

Out of nostalgia or love of old TV shows, Tony picked up Route 66 outside of Chicago knowing he could follow it all the way to where it ended at Santa Monica Pier. From Illinois Route 66 went through Missouri then Kansas next Oklahoma followed by Texas then New Mexico and Arizona and finally California. There might be a more efficient route for him to take but he didn't care. He wasn't in any rush. His first day ended in Springfield, Mo. in a Comfort Inn, which suited his budget and his mood. This was going to be a low key under the radar trip.

After dropping his bag off on the room he stopped at the front desk which was being manned by a young man about twenty.

"Hey, dude, can you recommend a restaurant, preferably Italian?" Tony asked him.

"There's an Olive Garden not to far from here," he said.

For a moment thought considered making a citizen arrest for stupidity. Shaking his head he exited the Inn and decided to take a chance. He found a place called the Da Cubby Hole. It was a sports bar with a band called Toe Jam playing. Sitting at the bar it ordered bacon cheese burger and a side order of cheese fries with a beer.

A young woman, more like a girl, no older than twenty sat down beside him. He had blonde hair and wore tight jeans and a tight tee shirt.

"Hi," she said to Tony.

"Hi," he responded. He knew she wasn't interested in because he was old enough to be her father and he wasn't wearing a fifteen hundred dollar suit.

"What do you want?" he asked her.

"Are you a cop?" she asked.

He realized he had clipped his badge to his jeans out of habit. Between being a homicide cop and a NCIS agent he'd been clipping his badge to his pants almost every day for over twelve years. She must have noticed it when he moved his suede jacket to get his wallet.

"I'm a federal agent," he said, not wanting to explain he was a vacationing special agent.

"Cool," she said then furtively looked over at a guy and rubbed a bruise on her arm. "Me and my friends were minding our business when that creep started to bother us. When I told him to chew and screw he grabbed my arm and threatened me. I'd usually forget about it but he kind of scares me."

Tony looked at the guy. He wore a jean shirt and a ball cap and looked like he worked out with weights and steroids. There was something about the guy he didn't like or trust.

_Lesson number one: leave badge in car. Lesson number two: check mirror and see if I somehow look like a cop. _

"Listen, I'll stick around for awhile and if he bothers you or friends again then I'll take care of him," Tony told her.

She got off her stool and kissed his cheek: "Thanks. My name is Janet."

She returned to her friends, who were a party of five young women. He sighed. He stuck around until the girls left and make sure the guy didn't bother any of them. There was no rush to get on the road tomorrow.

Tony turned back to his beer and his food and started to enjoy his dinner while wishing that Toe Jam would take the night off.

NCIS

It was there first day back at work and Gibbs managed to convince Vance to let them check up the rest of the week on paperwork. This allowed McGee to start his search for Tony through banking transactions, credit cards, and his car. Ziva sat her desk doing hers and McGee's paperwork, while Gibbs did whatever it was he did when they weren't solving a case.

"Boss," McGee spoke up, "I don't think we are going to be able to track Tony."

Ziva lifted her head and glared at McGee.

"Sitrep, McGee," said Gibbs.

"I'd rather do this somewhere else, boss," said McGee.

Gibbs looked at his watch. It was nine o'clock in the evening.

"Grab your gear, we are going to my place for pizza and debriefing," Gibbs said then he stood up and grabbed his backpack.

It didn't take long for the three agents to arrive at Gibbs house. They entered his house and Ziva and McGee dropped their gear by the door, while Gibbs pulled his cellphone out and ordered two pizzas.

"What have you found out that you didn't want heard at work?" asked Gibbs.

McGee was seated on the sofa beside Ziva in the living room. Gibbs came into the room and sat down in the armchair.

"Go on, McGee, talk," he said.

"I tracked his car to a long term garage where it is now stored. He's driving a new car which I haven't been able to track down yet," said McGee.

"He is be careful not to be tracked," said Ziva.

"Finances?" asked Gibbs.

"Okay, he's not using his regular bank account or his credit card, but he did make a fifty thousand dollar cash withdrawal from the bank of England where he has an account tied to a trust fund to and Isle of Man trust fund under the name Anthony Paddington. He has a trust fund worth over six million dollars," said McGee.

"And you're surprised, McGee. The man wears Italian designer clothes," said Gibbs. "He drives classic muscle cars and eats take out every day of the week."

"But he always complains about being broke or not having money," said McGee.

"He also tells you he slept with a new woman every night when he goes home and watches movies," said Gibbs.

Ziva watched and listened and it all started to make sense. Tony lived behind even more walls than she thought.

"You mean he doesn't sleep around?" asked McGee.

"He does, just not as much as he pretends," said Gibbs.

"Why?" asked McGee sounding disappointed that Tony didn't trust him.

"To protect himself, McGee," answered Ziva. "He has been hurt many times and he has developed walls to protect himself, even from those he loves."

Gibbs smiled.

"I don't understand why," said McGee.

"You've met his father, McGee," growled Gibbs. "Charming bastard, isn't he? He sent his son away to camps and private school starting at the age of twelve. He disinherited him and even once left him at a hotel in Hawaii forgetting all about him for days. The woman he loved left him the day before their wedding. He has reason to protect. Jenny used him. Jeanne accused him of murder. Jarvis used him and on an on."

"And I have treated him badly on occasion," Ziva admitted.

Gibbs looked at her but decided not to ask. Ziva looked at Gibbs for a moment then turned her head away. She didn't want him to see the rawness of her emotions, as regret mixed with desire and love.

"I'm sorry, boss, it just makes me feel like I don't know him," said McGee.

NCIS

Janet and her friends headed out to the parking lot. Tony finished his third beer, which he had been nursing for over an hour. He put a five dollar bill on the bar top and followed the guy in the baseball cap out of the bar. The guy with the ball cap followed Janet as she went towards her car. As she got the door he came up behind her and put his arms on the hood of her car boxing her in.

"I told you honey that you weren't getting away from me," he said to her.

Before she could even turn around to scream, the guy in the ball cap moaned in pain as Tony gave him a rabbit punch to the kidneys. His next move he learned from watching Ziva which was to place two kicks behind the knees dropping him to his knees and then he swung and gave him a hard elbow to the back of the head rendering him senseless.

"Janet, get in your car and go home," said Tony.

"Thanks," she said and gave him another chaste kiss on the cheek.

She got into her Chevy and drove away leaving Tony with the guy on the ground. He looked down at the guy.

"You better get a new hobby that assaulting women," he said to him.

"Fuck off," said the guy in the ball cap.

"Eloquent bastard," Tony said then he gave him a solid kick to the ribs to keep him down, while he walked back to his car.

Reaching his car, Tony got in and drove back to the comfort in. He figured that he could grab some fast food breakfast in the morning then see how far he could make before he needed to stop for the night.

NCIS

_He dream was a memory. He was watching TV in the hotel room in Rome. It was some cable news channel because he felt like listening to English. The international reporter was discussing Kashmir, where he had just sold some devastating SMAWs. _

_The reporter talked about a deadly attack on the Kashmir government using American SMAWs. Twelve people were killed and another twenty injured. And he had provided the weapons for the tragedy. He was the reason the people died and died horribly. _

Tony woke up in bed with the cold sweats and shaking. He had hoped to be through with these dreams that were nothing more than memories. As he sat up in bed, his stomach turned at the thought of the dead, maimed, and injured he was responsible for.

Suddenly a rush of bile filled his mouth and he bolted out of the bed and into the bathroom where he vomited until his stomach was empty. Once he had no more food to vomit he resorted to the dry heaves until his mind and body finally was exhausted and calmed down.

He sat down beside the toilet on the tiled bathroom floor. The coolness of the tiles felt good. Closing his eyes, he decided to prayer, but not for forgiveness. Forgiveness was something he believed he needed to earn. No, he prayed for all those killed, maimed, and injured by the weapons he sold.

NCIS

Ziva came into work with a look of determination on her face. The minute he saw it Gibbs knew that he was in for an argument with her.

"Gibbs," she started to say.

"My office, Ziva," he stood up and marched the elevator.

She followed him to the elevator. As four agents got off, they got on the elevator then he slapped the emergency stopped.

"Alright, Ziva, what is on your mind?" he asked.

"I want to take some time off, Gibbs," she said.

"To track down, DiNozzo," he said.

"I need to find him," she stated simply and without explanation.

"Ziva, I won't give you the time off," he said then looked into her determined eyes. "Yet."

"When will you give me the time off?" she asked.

"When we have a serious lead then I will gladly let you use all your skills to track down DiNozzo. Until then, all I ask is that you be patient," he said.

"Gibbs, I have made serious mistakes with Tony. I have the feeling that if he finds someplace else where he feels like he belongs then he won't come back to us," she said. "I can't lose him, Gibbs. After all we have been through and all the mistakes we have made, I can't lose him."

"Then don't. But wait until we have something to go. You don't think I'm going to give up searching for him, do you?" asked Gibbs.

"No, Gibbs," she said.

"Remember, Ziva. You aren't the only one who loves him," he smiled then turned the power back on.

NCIS

Karim sat across from Kalil Greene. With blonde hair and blue eyes he passes though life as a man in disguise. Karim took put a photograph of the man he thought was Alexander Paddington from his wallet. This was a man he wanted dead and he wanted him dead by the hands of his own kind. He handed the picture to Kalil.

"His name is Anthony DiNozzo. He is a federal agent working for an agency, NCIS. I want him dead, painfully and slowly, and I am putting a bounty of five hundred thousand dollars on his head. I will pay a million dollars, if he is brought to me, so that I can kill him personally," said Karim.

"What kind of proof do you want of death?" asked Kalil.

"His head or his balls," smiled Karim.

"What did he do?" asked Kalil.

"He is responsible for the death of Ali Ibn Talib," said Karim.

"He is a dead man," Kalil said softly.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Two

After a few days of coming up with nothing on Tony's whereabouts, Ziva, McGee, Burley and Gibbs were stuck on doing cold cases. Gibbs sipped his fourth cup of coffee of the day, glowering at anyone and everyone who dared disturb his pensiveness over DiNozzo. He understood why his agent would want some time to himself after the ordeal he went through undercover, but the amount of time he requested showed an agent who had lost his way. Plus, when Vance told him that DiNozzo didn't have any intention of rejoining the team, even if he did come back to NCIS; Gibbs knew he needed to talk to DiNozzo and clear the air.

Gibbs looked over at Stan Burley, who now occupied DiNozzo's desk. He was a good agent, married and now with two children. Most MCR Teams would relish having Burley as a SFA, but for Gibbs he was a pale replacement for DiNozzo. He liked Burley, respected him, but he was DiNozzo; he wasn't like a son to him.

"Hey, McGee, these cases aren't merely cold they are frozen," Burley joked with him.

McGee looked up and smiled then nodded his head. As much as he enjoyed not being called probie or McFill-in-the-insult, he missed Tony's ability to make a long boring day eventful. Because of that damned undercover op Tony had been gone from the team almost a year now, and yet he still missed him. From spouting off movie and TV trivia to rolling up balls of paper and using him as a target, DiNozzo always kept it light, especially when they were sitting around reading about double homicides, patricide, matricide, or worse.

On top of that after seeming to not reviewing one cold case, he'd come up with a clue or a piece of evidence missed and a cold case would heat up. It was actually infuriating how he did that.

"Ziva, I'm thinking of getting a coffee in the cafeteria, do you want a cup of tea?" he asked her.

"No, thank you, Stan," she said.

Stan got up and walked out of the bullpen, leaving Ziva staring at his empty desk, but it was his desk, it was Tony's. She missed their staring contests, where they would communicate their feelings for each other far better then with words. Of course, she also missed his flirting and his jealousy. She missed him.

"Gibbs, Gibbs," Abby came bouncing into the bullpen looking excited to the point of bursting.

"Calm down, Abs," Gibbs said.

"I can't because I think I know where Tony is," she said.

"Where, Abby?" Ziva quickly asked.

"Route 66. It's one of the TV series he has on DVD," she said. "He's always talked about driving Route 66."

"Boss, should I check the route and see where it ends?" asked McGee.

"Santa Monica Pier," answered Gibbs.

McGee looked confused as to why Gibbs knew that.

"I liked the TV series and looked it up on a map one day," Gibbs told him.

"So, you think Tony is headed for California?" asked Ziva.

"For a start," said Abby.

"And to probably give his thanks to OSP for their help. He was in a coma when they left, so he never had to give them his thanks," said Gibbs.

"Gibbs," Ziva started to ask him a question, but he already knew what it was.

"Not yet, Ziva. Let me talk to Hettie. If he shows up there, she'll let me know," said Gibbs.

Abby looked from Gibbs to Ziva then back again.

"Are you two hiding something about Tony?" asked Abby.

"No, Abby, we are not hiding a thing," said Gibbs.

Ziva didn't answer but looked down at her desk. Abby noticed and made a mental note to corner her late.

NCIS

Tony checked into the Motel 6 in Amarillo, Texas. It was an eighty degrees and all he wanted was air conditioning and a shower. Settling in he cranked up the AC. Before taking his shower, though, he decided to give Ducky a call. Taking his i-Phone out he speed dialed Ducky.

"_Dr. Mallard_," he said.

"Ducky, it's me," he said.

"_Anthony, it is good to hear from you. Jethro and Ziva are in a frenzy looking for you_," he said.

"Don't want to be found, Ducky," he said.

"_I know, Anthony, but you cannot discount the depth of the emotions towards you. Jethro has always thought of you as like a son and, well, you are more than away of the complexities of emotions you and Ziva share_," he said.

"Those are reasons for me not to be found by them," said Tony. "I want a clear head to make up my mind about my future, Ducky."

"_Sometimes we can't have what we want, dear boy_," said Ducky.

"I know that better than most, Ducky," Tony said.

"_Yes, I'm afraid that you do_," said Ducky.

"I need a shower and some food, Ducky," he said. "I'll call you in a few days."

"_Godspeed, Anthony_," said Ducky then he hung up.

NCIS

Abby had called Ziva and asked her to come to her lab. When she got there she found Abby listening to Sinatra, which was the first sign something was wrong. Blaring over the speaker was Sinatra singing _My Funny Valentine_.

"Abby, what is wrong? You do not like Sinatra," said Ziva.

"I miss Tony," she answered.

"I do, too," agreed Ziva.

"I thought when he came out of the coma and everything that things were finally going to go back to normal but I barely talked to him or saw him and then he came in and announced he was leaving," Abby said.

"I did not even get that much from him," Ziva said.

Abby looked at her. Like everyone else she had seen how they had danced around each other. She knew that they had strong emotions for each, but in some ways she had thought they had settled on a brother and sister relationship like she had with Tony. But now she saw the truth: Ziva loved him. She really loved him.

"How long have you been in love with him, Ziva?" Abby asked.

"Too long and I've never done anything about it, except push him away," she said.

"Oh, Ziva," said Abby as she approached her friend for a hug.

Ziva accepted Abby's bone crunching hug. Once she stepped back, she looked her in the eyes.

"What are you going to do about it?" she asked Ziva.

"We need to find him then I am going to force him to talk to me," Ziva said.

"He's hurting, Ziva. He's hurting really bad. Whatever he went through during that undercover op, it left deep scars," Abby told her.

"I know, Abby. And I want to help him," she said.

"Then you will, Ziva. When you put your mind to do something, you accomplish it," said Abby.

"I hope that is true, Abby," sighed Ziva.

"Now we just have to find him," said Abby.

"What if he has gone to be with that Kensi from OSP, Abby? What do I do then?" asked Ziva.

The question surprised Abby because she had never heard that much doubt in Ziva's voice before. She truly was afraid of losing Tony this time.

"Then you'll go out to LA and kick her butt and take him back," Abby said.

This drew a smile from Ziva.

NCIS

He smelled the ocean breeze as he stopped at the red light and stared at Santa Monica Pier. So far his nightmares were getting less, which meant his idea to take to the road was the right one. There was something freeing about getting into a car and a lot of pavement in your rearview mirror. _Maybe I should break out the trust fund and just live my life out on the road. Other than movies and music road trips seem to be the one of the things I like which don't get me into trouble. _

The light turned to green and Tony headed to OSP offices. It was about time he thanked them for everything they did. And to make amends with Kensi.

NCIS

Fornell looked at the picture they found on Hassan Jaleel. Jaleel was a native of Afghanistan who had come into the US via Mexico. They FBI arrested him in a sting where he was trying to purchase a sniper rifle. Fornell looked at Jaleel through the two way mirror as he waited to be interrogated in their interview room then he looked back at the photo.

"You know the guy in the photo?" asked Special Agent Lynn.

"Yeah, I do. His name is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo of NCIS," Fornell said.

"I wonder why he has it," said Lynn.

"If he doesn't tell us then I might let NCIS have a go at him," said Fornell.

NCIS

"You look much better than the last time I saw you, Anthony," said Hettie.

"Being in a coma isn't my best side," he smiled.

They sat at Hettie's desk having a cup of jasmine tea. She noticed that he did look relaxed, though she could see that he was still dealing with a great many issues.

"Agent Gibbs asked me to let him know when you showed up," she said.

Tony laughed. Gibbs knew he needed to say thank for what they did for him.

"Tony," he head Kensi's voice as she yelled his name.

He stood up and turned around in time to have her catapult into his arms. Before he could even open his mouth her lips were on his and her tongue snaking into his mouth leaving Deeks, Callen, and Hanne in shock, though Hettie sat in her chair and smiled. Tony managed to gain control and gently puled them apart.

"Hi, kens," he said.

"What are you ding here?" she asked.

"I came to thank you for everything you've done for me and," he said looking at a sullen Deeks, Callen and Hanna, "to thank you for everything. You guys definitely went above and beyond the call of duty."

"Especially Kens," added Deeks.

"I know," he looked into her beautiful mismatched eyes. "We need to talk."

"Yeah, we do," she said.

"Use the pier," said Callen.

Tony and Kensi entered the interview room and she immediately walked over to each and every hidden camera and disconnected them then she returned to him and kissed him again. Tony hadn't come for intimacy, though. He came to thank her and tell her to forget about him.

"Kensi, you have to stop kissing me," he smiled.

"But I want to," she said.

"Honey, you and I... what we shared was beautiful but that's not why I'm here," he said. "I came to thank you and tell you..."

"That I'm not the one," she said.

"Kens, I'm no good for you. I'm mean you are so young. I have insecurities older than you," he said.

She glared at him: "I'm not that much younger than Ziva."

He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. She wasn't going to make this easy for him.

"You're right. Though I will say in Ziva's case, she lived a life that makes her seem older than she is," he smiled.

"You love her," said Kensi.

"She has nothing to do this. This is about me. That undercover op screwed me up big time and I need to get my head straight and figure out what I want do to with my life," he told her. "You've got a lot of living and loving to do ahead of you."

"Tony, I love you," she said.

"No, you don't. You think you do, but you don't. Trust me, Kens, you don't want to love me, either," he said.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

He moved close to her and kissed her forehead: "Because it is the right thing to do."

He then turned and exited the interview room. Continuing out of the pier office, he walked to where he had parked his car, got in, and drove away. He knew that he could have handled it better with her, but anyway he handled it, it needed to be done. She needed to move past him and he needed to make the nightmares go away.

NCIS

Gibbs was ready to tell his team to call it a night when he desk phone rang.

"Gibbs," he answered it.

"_Anthony just left. He said his thanks, but not goodbye. After he dealt with Miss Blye, leaving the poor girl in tears then he slipped away_," said Hettie.

"Damn it," growled Gibbs. "Did he say where he was going?"

"_No_," said Hettie. "_Has he turned in his badge_?"

"Not yet and not ever if I can help it," said Gibbs.

"_Agent Gibbs if you need help with finding him an beyond that, let me know_," she hung up.

He looked over at Ziva, who was staring at him with hope. Exhaling all the oxygen in his lungs, he shook his head: "He came and went in LA and didn't tell them where he was going."

"Harah!" she hissed.

Before their conversation could continue, the elevator dinged and Fornell strode off of it and into the bullpen. Stan, McGee, and Ziva watched him marched over to Gibbs desk and put a photograph down on it.

"I think your boys in trouble," he said.

Gibbs looked at the photo of DiNozzo and his gut twisted.

"Found this on a terrorist buying a sniper rifle," said Fornell.

Ziva got up and walked over to Gibbs' desk and saw that the photo was of Tony. She looked at Fornell.

"What does the terrorist want with Tony?" she asked.

"That's what we want to find out," he said.

"He hasn't talked," Gibbs growled.

"Nope," said Fornell.

"Let me at him," said Gibbs.

"I'll have him in your interview room one tomorrow morning," smiled Fornell.

"I'll find out what he wants from DiNozzo," growled Gibbs.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three

From the observation room Ziva, McGee, and Fornell stared through the two way mirror at Hassan Jaleel. The young man had a perpetual snarl on his face, as if to show how hard and strong he was. There was no way they were going to break him. He was handcuffed to the metal bar that ran down the middle of the table.

"Gibbs is going to eat him alive," said McGee.

"Let's hope so," said Fornell.

Just then Ducky came strolling into the observation room. His bow tie was undone and top unbutton and looked as if he had changed quickly from his scrubs in order to be there.

"Dr. Mallard," said Fornell.

"Agent Fornell," Ducky replied then he stared at the young man. "So, he had Anthony's photograph."

"We need to know why, Ducky," said Ziva not even bothering to hide her worry.

"I can only think there are nefarious reasons behind it," said Ducky.

"Where's the boss?" asked McGee.

"He was waiting for some further information that he requested from a contact of his at the CIA," said Fornell. "Plus, he wants to make this one wait."

"You should prepare to get into that room quickly to refrain, Jethro, if this interview doesn't go well," said Ducky.

"Why?" asked McGee.

"I believe Jethro believes as I do that Anthony's life is at stake," Ducky said.

Vance now entered the observation room and chuckled when he saw all the people.

"Crowded in here," he said.

"Yes, Director, we are all anxious to find out the reason behind the photograph," said Ducky.

"I'm curious to that myself, Doctor," said Vance, as he walked up and got close to the observation glass.

Suddenly, Gibbs entered the interview room and sat down across from Jaleel. Jaleel stared at Gibbs, who opened a file and began reading it. For several minutes this continued with Gibbs ignoring Jaleel while he read his file. Finally, after the young man sighed, Gibbs looked up.

Gibbs took the photo of Tony and placed it on the table facing Jaleel then stared at Jaleel with his grey blue eyes.

"Do you know who that is?" asked Gibbs.

"Anthony DiNozzo," he answered.

"So, you are aware that he is a federal agent?" asked Gibbs.

"It doesn't matter."

"Why doesn't it matter?" asked Gibbs.

"Because it doesn't," he said.

"Oh, that's clever. Because it doesn't," smiled Gibbs. "Are you clever?"

Jaleel didn't answer but glared at Gibbs.

"You are so clever that you are going to spend the rest of your life in a Super Max prison," said Gibbs.

Jaleel looked upset by this statement. He was merely arrest for trying to purchase a sniper rifle.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you are an accomplish in the murder of a federal agent," said Gibbs.

"Someone fulfilled the contract on DiNozzo's life already?" asked Jaleel.

Gibbs didn't answer but he took the picture back and put it in the folder.

"How much did they make from this contract?" he asked.

"If I tell you, if I give you information, will I get a lesser sentence?" Jaleel asked.

Gibbs smiled but he didn't answer him.

"Half a million for him dead and a million for him alive," Jaleel said.

"Who is behind this contract?" asked Gibbs.

"I don't know but Kalil Greene is acting as his intermediary," said Jaleel. "Whoever killed this DiNozzo must present either his head or balls or a living DiNozzo to Kalil and he will give you the money."

"DiNozzo is alive," said Gibbs, "and you are going to prison for a long time."

"What? You lied to me, you bastard," yelled Jaleel.

"I said an accomplish in the death of a federal agent. I didn't say who," chuckled Gibbs as he stood up and exited.

In the observation room Vance shook his head: "Sometimes it isn't fair putting him in there with prisoners."

Ziva was standing there hoping that no one noticed that she was trembling. There was a contract out on the life of Tony and no one had his six. _Please, God, I have to find him. I have to protect him. I owe him so much. _

"So, Anthony's life is at risk," said Ducky. "I need to talk to Jethro."

McGee looked at Director Vance, who merely shook his head.

"Does your fellow agent every do anything the easy way?" he asked McGee.

"Not really in Tony's nature, sir," said McGee.

Gibbs was striding down the hallway when Ducky called after him.

"Jethro!" he called. "Please stop."

Gibbs stopped and turned. Ducky could see from his demeanor that the ex-marine was worried about his agent.

"Yeah, Duck," he said.

"I have received calls from Anthony," he said.

"What? He calls you," said Gibbs.

"Yes. When he told me what he was doing I asked him to stay in touch with me. I pointed out that I am a man of advanced years and he means a great deal to me, so he agreed," said Ducky.

"You know we have been looking for him, Duck," growled Gibbs.

"He asked me not to tell you," said Ducky. "I had to keep his confidence, Jethro. He's not at his most trusting at the moment."

"When do you expect to hear from him again?" asked Gibbs.

"Tonight."

NCIS

Several long hours after crossing the expanse of the Golden Gate Bridge, Tony stopped in Mendocino, California. The seaside town reminded him of something you'd find in New England more than California with its quaintness. He stopped at a little bed and breakfast which was a converted Colonial style house.

The woman who greeted him when he entered was grey haired and thin with a jeans and a cardigan sweater on.

"Hello," she greeted him.

"Hi, I'd like a room," he said.

"Just you. We usually have couples staying here," she said.

"Yeah, just me. It seems I'm dating myself lately," he said and gave her one of his million dollar smiles.

"Ooh, a charmer," she said. "I'll get your key."

"Thanks."

The room had a canopied bed, which reminded Tony of his childhood when he had a canopied bed because his mother was into French antiques. The memories associated to that bed were not his best childhood memories. It was a sweet room, though, one which would have been prefect if he was there with a date.

Slipping off his loafers he laid on the bed. He decided to take a nap before calling Ducky that way he was sure to get him at home instead of at work.

NCIS

Ziva insisted on coming with Ducky and Gibbs to Ducky's Georgetown condo. As he made tea for Ziva and himself and an Irish coffee of Gibbs, they waited patiently for Tony to make his call in to Ducky. He brought Ziva her tea and Gibbs his whiskey spiked coffee.

"Thanks, Duck," said Gibbs.

"Yes, thank you, Ducky," added Ziva.

Ducky checked his watch. It was going on ten in the evening. Finally, his cellphone rang.

"Anthony," Ducky answered the cellphone.

"_Hey, Ducky_," Tony said stifling a yawn.

"Anthony, I have Gibbs and Ziva here with me. There is some disturbing news about you. Please, understand that I didn't want to break your confidence but it is that important," he told him.

"_Disturbing new? Has IA decided I broke laws and should be prosecuted_?" he asked.

"Anthony, it is far worse than that," Ducky said.

Gibbs stood and put out his hand: "Give me the damned phone."

Ducky handed him the cellphone.

"DiNozzo, there is a contract put out on your life," Gibbs stated.

"_Good to hear from you to, Gibbs_," Tony sighed.

"This is a joking matter. Half a million for your head and a million if you are taken alive," Gibbs told him.

"_Hmm, maybe I'll turn myself in and collect the money_," Tony chuckled.

"This isn't a joking matter, DiNozzo. Where are you?" Gibbs asked.

"_In bed. Soon I'll be going to a local place for a late dinner, probably something bad for me, and then tomorrow I'll be on the road, right after I buy a new phone and have my number changed. I don't want to be tracked or found, Gibbs_," stated Tony

"Tony, you can't be out there alone. You need backup. This is too dangerous," Gibbs said.

"_Whoever wants me dead will just have track me down and, believe me, I'm going to be tough to find_," he said.

Gibbs decided to take another tact. Instead of arguing, he handed the phone to Ziva, who stood up and walked away from the two men hoping to not be heard.

"Tony, it's me," she said.

"_What is it, Zi? You want me to come back to DC so I can be protected_," said Tony.

"No. Staying on the road is an excellent way to stay safe, especially if you remain unpredictable. What I want is for you to tell me where you are so I can be with you to keep you safe," she told him.

"_Not going to happen. If someone wants to kill me, I make a better target all by myself," Tony _stated.

"But, we need to talk, Tony. We need...," she felt emotions starting to gather inside of her, a mix of sadness, anger, frustration, and love. She wanted to reach into the cellphone and pull him through so she could throttle then make love to him.

"_Zi, it was all said the last time we met. We don't need to say anything more_," he said.

"Tony, I know you didn't mean what you said. It was part of an op. You were forced by Jarvis to hurt us so we'd let you go," she said.

"_But you meant what you said and I don't blame you for saying it. Maybe you were right about me. It doesn't matter now, though, does it? I've fucked up with you enough. I have to go. Bye, Zi_," he said then hung up.

Ziva growled then raised her hand back as if she was going to throw the cellphone to be stopped by Gibbs. Gently, he took the cellphone from her and handed it back to Ducky.

"Calm down, Ziva," he said.

"Anthony has upset you," said Ducky.

"Gibbs, I need to find. I've...I never told you what I did to him that day he baited us into a fight, did I?" she said.

"No, you didn't tell me," Gibbs said.

_Tony stormed out of the bullpen and towards the stairs. He didn't even want to wait for the elevator wanting to get away from his teammates, his family, before he broke down and told them he didn't mean anything he said, that he was forced into destroying his relationship with them. Ziva had enough, so she followed him. If he was going to say his peace than she wanted to say hers to him. _

_She caught up to him as he was about to get into his car. At first she was thrown off by the expression of sadness on his face as he unlocked the door, but he quickly masked that over with indifference when he saw her approach him. _

_"What can I do for you, Agent David?" he asked coldly. _

_"I want to speak to you before make your cowardly exit," she snapped. _

_"Cowardly. That must be your Mossad training speaking, huh? If it doesn't end in carnage and blood then it's cowardly," he retorted. _

_"No, you are a coward because you said those horrible things to a man who is better than you, who is your superior in every way, then you leave not caring about the damage you've done," she yelled at him. _

_"Again, you're worshiping at the altar of Gibbs. Some day you're going to get tired of that. Take it from me because I've done it for years," he said. _

_"You'd prefer that I be on my knees in front of you, DiNozzo?" she sarcastically asked. _

_"Let's leave Paris out of this, shall we, David? You are the one that wanted that night to be a one night stand not me," he said. _

_"Is that it? You are pouting because I never worshipped you?" she growled at him. "Are you angry and hurt because I value Gibbs and his rules?" _

_"I don't know about your religion, David, but my religion has something against worshipping false Gods," he laughed without humor. _

_"You have no religion, just like you have no honor. You are no one, a nobody. Everything you're father has said about you is true. To think I once trusted you, that I once loved you," she spat. _

_With those words Tony went to speak but stopped himself. What he wanted to say to her wouldn't ruin what he started. _

_"You are a bastard. I hope you die in the gutter like your father predicted," she said. _

_"Go back to Gibbs. Maybe you can convince him to stop treating you like a daughter and bring it to the next level. You always did prefer him," Tony coldly stated. _

_Ziva snapped. First, she delivered a savant kick to his stomach which bent him over sending all the air out of his lungs then she delivered an elbow to the base of his neck which put him down on his knees. Finally, she pulled his head back by his hair and spit in his face then followed that with a slap that even caused her hand pain. _

_"You are lucky that I am no longer an assassin," she said. _

_"Yeah, real lucky," he said through gritted teeth. _

_She turned her back on him and left him there. _

"My dear, no wonder you need to see and talk to him so much," Ducky. "He provoked and you took the bait, but you may have gone too far."

"I know, Ducky," she said.

"We'll find him, Ziva," said Gibbs.

"Gibbs," she started to speak then stopped as she was choked with tears.

Gibbs took her into his arms and gave her forehead a soft kiss.

"We'll find him," he said.

NCIS

Tony turned off his smart phone, took the battery out, and tossed it into his bag and packed it into the truck of his car. Before hitting the road he found a store and purchased prepaid minutes smart phone then took off. His next stop was going to be Portland, Oregon where he had an old friend from his day as a cop in Baltimore.

It was a ten hour drive, which he figured he could do in eight, tops nine. Anyway it was put he was getting in late, but Captain Terry Shore of the Portland Police Bureau was expecting him. He called him after LA and told him that he'd be dropping by for a day or two.

Shore had taken a job in Portland to be near his ex-wife and son and daughter. Tony knew him as a decent homicide cop in Baltimore. They got along well and shared beers and sports stories since he was a good athlete in his day. Tony was actually looking forward to a couple of days relaxing and not driving.

Stopping for gas and Burger King, he finally arrived at the address Shore gave him at eight o'clock in the evening. According to Shore it was the Hawthrone District and it was known for its bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and microbreweries. It was filled with young liberal hipsters, Gen X, street performers, and eco-friendly types. Some of the establishments and resident homes had a system to collect rainwater for recycling and they had even prevented a McDonald's from being built.

Shore had a two story bungalow painted grey with a front porch and a driveway and garage in the back. Tony pulled up to the house and parked his car. He grabbed one of his bags from the trunk and walked up the porches steps and rang the front doorbell. It didn't take long for an attractive twenty-something brunette to answer the door. She looked at Tony with curiosity.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"Tony DiNozzo. I'm here to see Terry Shore," he said.

He saw behind her Terry Shore in pants and a white dress shirt walking down a hallway. His hair was now salt and pepper and his once flawless physique fifteen pounds heavier. A smile broke across his face when he saw Tony.

"Alice, that's my friend Tony from Baltimore," he said.

"Oh, the super homicide detective," she said with a smirk and let him in.

Terry walked over and shook Tony's hand. Tony could see in his friend's face he was tense and under some pressure.

"I'm glad you are here," he said. "I need you're help. I think we have a serial killer."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four

"Alice, do me a favor and take Tony's bag up to the spare room. He'll be staying with us a for a few days," Shore said to his daughter.

"But I want to meet the guy you call the best Homicide detective you ever knew," she said teasingly.

"You can meet him afterwards," he said.

She grabbed his bag and reluctantly brought it up the stairs. Shore guided Tony into the living room. The furniture, which was sort of mix and match, brought a smile to Tony's face. He could see Shore buying every piece based on comfort and utility but not on style.

"You never remarried," he said to Shore, who looked at him with a smile.

"No. My ex has, though. Alice is living with me because she just moved back to Portland after graduating from Gonzaga then living in Seattle for a few years. She had a basketball scholarship," he said proudly.

"She doesn't like her stepfather?" Tony said.

"This is why I need your help, Tony. You are a great detective," he said. "I mean the closure rate you had in Baltimore was amazing and everyone knew it was you not Danny."

Just the mention of his old partner made Tony sad. In his mind Danny was just another person he had failed.

"You know Danny was murdered?" asked Tony.

"And I know you solved the case and arrested Major Raimey," said Shore. "I got phone calls about it."

He motioned Tony to sit on the sofa, so he did, then Shore sat in an armchair.

"So far we got three dead homeless youths. Each had a drug problem and each were strangled," he said.

"CCTV give you anything?" asked Tony.

"Nothing," he said.

"So they know the city well, including its blind spots," he said.

"This is why I need your help Tony. Portland has a population close to 600,000 people and only 1500 hundred cops and most of them don't have your experience solving homicides," Shore said.

"Terry, I just got out of coma after a long undercover op. I've taken leave from NCIS to rethink my life, to see if I even want to do this anymore, and you want me to work a case," said Tony.

"Shit, a coma. How long?"

"Close to three months. I took two round in the chest," he said.

"I'm sorry, Tony, but this is who you are. I always thought it was a fucking waste you going to NCIS and becoming a federal agent. You are a homicide cop," he told Tony. "I already talked to the chief of police and he's willing to hire you are a consultant on this."

"He going to do it, dad?" asked Alice, who was standing in the doorway.

Tony looked back at her. She walked into the living room and sat on the opposite end of the sofa from Tony.

"Alice is a councilor with a nonprofit for homeless youth," he explained.

"We try to get them straight and find them places to stay and jobs," she said.

"Yeah, Terry, I'm not really on my game right now," he said.

"Tony, you not on your game is better than anyone we have. I mean it. I am the best we have when it comes to this," he said.

"You going to offer me a drink?" he asked.

"Whiskey?" Shore asked.

"What kind?" Tony asked.

"I've got a bottle of Japanese whiskey, Suntory Royal, age 15 years. I've been looking to open it on a special occasion. Tell me this is a special occasion and I'll open," he said.

"Japanese whiskey, huh? How you get a bottle?" Tony asked.

"A grateful Japanese businessman," he answered.

"That's expensive stuff," said Alice. "I expect a taste."

"You like expensive whiskey?" smiled Tony.

"On occasion," she answered.

"Hey, my son is a vegan. At least she takes after me," said Shore then he looked at Alice. "Tony always drank the good stuff."

"Really?" she smiled.

"My father taught me two things: always spend money on the good stuff because it's worth and get a good divorce lawyer," chuckled Tony then he saw the question in her eye. "I've never been married."

"Oh, are you gay?" she asked.

"Jesus, Alice," her father said then shook his head.

Tony gave her a smile that answered her question.

"Womanizer then?" she asked.

Tony looked at Terry Shore: "She's curious like her father."

"And tactless like her mother," Shore added with a big grin.

"So, Tony, are you going to help find these kids murderer, or has my father bragged about your for nothing?" she asked him.

"How many of the victims did you know?" he asked her.

"Two," she answered. "And I want the killer behind bars."

"What kind of drugs?" he asked.

"Crack and heroine," she answered.

"How did they get the money for it?" he asked.

"Anyway they could," she answered.

Tony looked at Terry Shore, who could hide the hope in his eyes.

"Who would I work under?" he asked.

"I'm running the task force. You'd have to meet the chief and get is okay then you'd be mine," he said.

"Get the whiskey," he said. "I guess we have a reason to have a drink."

Shore smiled: "This is great, Tony."

"Yeah, great."

NCIS

Vance looked at Gibbs standing in front of his desk and wondered if this had any subtlety in his body. He came in demanding his MCRT be given the DiNozzo case. Vance didn't even know there was a DiNozzo case. Once he was filled in on it, the first thing that crossed his mind was the FBI should have it, but then he remembered who was standing in front of him. Even if the FBI dealt with it, Gibbs would still investigate because DiNozzo was his agent, his senior field agent, his whatever they were to each other, and then Agent David would follow him because she was loyal to Gibbs and obviously had deep feelings for DiNozzo, and, finally, McGee would join Gibbs' crusade because McGee was loyal to Gibbs and he suspected that McGee actually liked DiNozzo. The only one he wasn't sure of was Stan Burley and that was because Burley hadn't worked with Gibbs for years.

"Kalil Greene is the one we have to find to find out who is behind the contract," said Gibbs.

"Any ideas who might be behind the contract?" asked Vance.

"Tony is responsible for taking down Talib. You don't have to be a genius to think there might be a connection there," said Gibbs.

"And we have no idea where DiNozzo is?" asked Vance.

"No."

"The FBI will be working this case, too," said Vance.

"Fornell and I can work something out," said Gibbs.

"Okay, find out who is trying to kill my agent," said Vance.

"Thank you, Leon," said Gibbs.

Vance smiled. It wasn't often that Gibbs thanked him.

"Oh, and find DiNozzo. I don't care if he's on leave or not, he needs protection," said Vance.

"I know," said Gibbs then he walked over of Vance's office.

As he headed down the stairs towards the bullpen, Ziva, McGee and Stan looked up. Gibbs nodded in the affirmative. Ziva smiled. Now they had permission to go after whoever was threatening Tony and permission to find him.

NCIS

Tony woke up and showered then grabbed his bag and checked the clothes he had. There were no Italian suits in his bag since he didn't think they were appropriate for this road trip. No, he had a three button Emporio Armani black blazer in the trick of his car he could wear, so now he had to choose what to wear with it. He chose a pink Toscano linen shirt and a pair of faded broken in jeans along with his sued dirty bucks.

Walking down the stairs, he saw Alice, who was in chinos and a blue casual collared shirt, holding a mug of coffee and staring at him.

"Morning," she said.

"Morning," he retorted coming to the bottom of the stairs.

He noticed that she continued to stare at him.

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked her.

She smiled: "For a guy who is only a couple of years younger then my father, you're hot."

"Thanks for pointing out my age," he sighed.

Considering everything else he was feeling these days, being older was something he didn't need pointed out. Before she could say anything else, Shore came strolling down the hallway in a off the rack five hundred dollar tops grey suit with a white shirt and yellow and black polka dot tie. Tony shook his head.

"You never did learn how to dress well," said Tony.

"We are taking my car," said Shore.

"I need to grab my Armani blazer out of the truck of my car and my piece," he said.

"You have your badge and NCIS ID?" asked Shore.

Tony took out the ID, which had the smaller gold badge and opened it showing him first the badge then the ID. He put it back in his pocket then took his large badge out and clipped it to the front of his jeans.

"Good. We won't have to issue you one. You can use your federal one," said Shore. "Let me just grab my cell."

He walked up the stairs. Once he was out of sight, Alice walked over Tony as if she was sizing him up.

"Armani blazer?" she asked.

"I have expensive taste," he said.

"Yeah," she said then leaned in and whispered, "and a hell of a package, too."

She sipped her coffee and walked away leaving Tony feeling more than a little uncomfortable. He had no intention of flirting his friend's daughter. Shore came down the stairs.

"I really need some coffee," said Tony.

"Don't worry. I'm taking you someplace special before we meet with the chief," Shore said.

"After you then," said Tony.

After grabbing his blazer and Beretta, he followed Shore to his unmarked blue Charger. After they got into the car, Shore gave him a big grin.

"You are going to love this place, Tony," he said. "It's a cop's dream."

"Can't wait," said Tony.

Shore's big surprise was a trip to Voodoo Donut. Although it was crowded with enthusiastic patrons, the manager recognized him and waved him over.

"Captain Shore, what can I get you?" he asked.

"Two chocolate coconut donuts and a large coffee," he said, "and for my friend..."

Tony stared at the glass counter filled with some of the best donuts he'd ever seen.

"I'll have an apple fritter and a cinnamon donut with a large coffee light and sweet," he said.

Like two cops who had been on many stakeouts, they ate their donuts and drank their coffee in the Charger. Tony didn't know which he liked better the fritter or the cinnamon cake donut. Either one, the donuts almost made him want to put in for a job with the Portland police.

"Nice surprise, Terry," he said.

"I knew you'd like it," Shore said.

The Portland police Bureau Headquarters was a square red brick four story building. The two men entered the building to an ant farm of activity. Following Shore into the elevator they headed up fourth floor. Once the doors opened the headed down a long hallway and entered a waiting area. The administrative assistant behind the desk smiled at Shore then picked up the phone and said: "Captain Shore is here."

She hung up then looked at Shore: "He'll see you now."

They walked into the chief's office with its royal blue rug and mahogany furniture. The chief of police was dressed in a navy blue uniform with plenty of medals and gold stars on his collar. He stood up and offered Tony his hand.

"Bill Munroe," he said.

"Tony DiNozzo," replied Tony as they shook hands then he sat down beside Shore in an armchair.

"Terry has spoken highly of you. He says that you a remarkable homicide detective. Have you ever worked a serial murder case?" he asked.

"One in Baltimore and several while at NCIS," Tony said.

"That's right, you are a federal agent," he said.

"I'm on extended leave. I was badly injured after a long term undercover operation," Tony said.

"I see," Munro said then he exhaled. "If you are willing to be part of a press conference we are having later this afternoon then I'd gladly used you as a consultant on this case."

"Press conference? Would you expect me to speak?" Tony asked.

"If asked questions," said Munro.

Chief Munro wanted someone to be the face of this investigation other than him and his detectives. He wanted a scapegoat. His phone rang and he answered. As he mumbled a conversation, Tony looked at Shore, ho seemed annoyed by the chief and his game of politics. Munro hung up.

"We've got another body. This time it was found in the an empty storefront in Chinatown," said Munro.

"Why don't I go with Terry and check it out? If I think I can help then I'll do as many press conferences as you want," Tony said.

"Sounds good," said Chief Munro.

"Is a forensic team on the way?" Shore asked Monroe.

"Yes," he answered.

"Come on, Tony," said Shore.

NCIS

The car passed under the five roofs and sixty-four dragons of the Chinatown Gate. They were now officially in Chinatown. Shore drove until they saw three patrol cars and two vans, one from the ME and one from forensics.

They got out of the car and walked over to the empty storefront. A uniformed officer opened the door and let them into the storefront. Tony observed three forensic officers taking photos and collecting evidence. He walked over to the body which was in a corner.

The victim was a young girl, no older than seventeen. It appeared that she and several others had been using the storefront for a place to sleep. Tony stared at the face of the young girl. In death she seemed so innocent, even with the bruising around her neck.

He saw that the ME was putting plastic bags over her hands and tie them off in order to preserve trace evidence.

"I'm Tony DiNozzo," he introduced himself to the ME. "I'm consulting on this case."

"Dr. David Blaine," the ME said.

"Skin under the fingernails?" he asked.

"Dirt and maybe some skin," the young ME answered him. "I'll be able to tell once I get her back to the officer."

"TOD?" asked Tony.

"When I get back to the office," he snapped.

"Will you be able to give us the size of the hands used to strangle her?" Tony asked him.

"I should be able to. I'll want to match it against the information I've collected so far," he said.

Tony's eyes went back to the face of the girl. She was so young. He shook his head. Whoever did this needed to be caught.

"Terry," he said. "What time is the press conference?"

"Thanks, Tony."

"Let's get a picture of her into the hands of detectives and unies and have them canvas," Tony said.

"I'll get the ball rolling, Tony," said Shore, who suppressed a smile.

He didn't want to show it in front of his people, but he was thrilled to have Tony's help on this case.

NCIS

The team was seated in the bullpen working on finding Kalil Greene. Gibbs looked up from what he was reading and caught a glimpse of the TV on behind Stan. It was always turned on to a cable news channel with the sound off. He couldn't believe his eyes, as he saw Tony standing beside several other men two of them in police uniform.

"McGee, transfer the TV image to the plasma and put the sound up," he barked.

McGee quickly did as he was told.

"We now have four murders of young homeless people. This is unthinkable. In order to try and bring justice to those murdered," Munro said, "we have enlisted the help of a federal agent, who is currently on leave. He will work as a consultant for the department. I'd like to introduce you to Anthony DiNozzo."

Cameras went off and reporters started shouting questions at Tony. Instead of looking overwhelmed he appeared to be a confident man who was calm and cool under pressure.

"I'll take a few questions," he said.

"Mute it!" ordered Gibbs.

He looked over at Ziva, who was staring at the image on TV. She looked over at Gibbs, who nodded.

"Get a ticket for Portland Oregon. You are now on DiNozzo duty," he said.

"Thank you, Gibbs," she smiled then stood up. "I better go home and pack."

Ziva grabbed her bag and started around her desk to head out.

"Ziva," Gibbs stopped her.

"Yes, Gibbs."

"Don't take no for an answer from him," he said.

She smiled: "I have no intention."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Five

_His latest nightmare was more nightmare than memory. He saw the homeless girl from the storefront. She was lying in a pool of blood. She had been murdered, except instead of being strangled she was shot in the head with one of the guns he sold. There she was young, innocent, and dead because of the weapons he sold. He saw no better than those he was supposed to protect the public from. _

Bolting upright in bed he saw that his grey OSU tee shirt was plastered to his body with sweat. Another nightmare had ruined his sleep. He peeled it off then he got out of bed and looked at the alarm clock on the bed stand. It was three-thirty in the morning and there was no way he was going back to sleep.

Getting out of bed, he was glad his bedroom had its own bathroom and shower. After doing a hundred pushups and a hundred sit-ups, a new morning ritual since coming out of the coma, he got in the shower and fixed the water so that it was warm nearer to hot. He then proceeded to take an extra long shower.

After he was done with the shower, he grabbed a pair of black jeans, a blue chambray shirt, a pair of Italian loafers, and dressed. Once clothed he grabbed his Armani blazer along with his gun, ID and badge then he headed down to the kitchen. He rummaged around the kitchen looking for coffee, coffee filters, sugar, and half and half. It took far longer than it should've but finally he had a pot of coffee brewing.

Sitting down on a chair, he waited patiently for the coffee. As he waited he started to wonder if he was suffering from a mild form of PTSD. The nightmares just wouldn't go away. His time infiltrating a mafia crime family was enjoyable compared to what he had been through this last time. He had yet to see Rachel Cranston; even though he'd have to see her if he wanted to be cleared for duty. She liked walking through the mind field that was his brain.

But then again he didn't even know if he'd ever return to NCIS. Like Peoria, Philly and Baltimore, it might be time to put NCIS in his rearview window for good, too. He probably had one more relocation and new job left in him, one more chance to start again and do it right this time. The coffee maker made a sort of exaggerated sighing news letting him know that the coffee was ready to be drunk. He started to pour himself a mug full.

"Can I get a mug?" asked Alice.

Tony nearly jumped out of his skin and ended up pouring hot coffee on his hand.

"Shit!" he hissed.

"Damn, I'm sorry," she said then mvoed quickly over to him and gabbed his forearm and led him to the sink.

She turned on the cold water and stuck his hand under it.

"I didn't mean to scare you," she said.

"You didn't scare me. You surprised me," he corrected her.

"Sure, I surprised you," she said. "Want to explain how?"

"Your father tells you why I'm here?" he asked.

"No, other than that you knew each other from Baltimore; he hasn't said a thing," Alice said.

"Yeah, well, I spent the last three month in a coma after being undercover for a very long time. Before deciding if I still want to do the job I was doing I decided to take a long road trip," he gave her the short version of a long story.

"What were you undercover as?" she asked.

"International arms dealer," he answered.

"At least, it sounds exciting," she said.

"Yeah, very exciting," he said with more than a little sarcasm, which she read as drop the subject.

She cold some antibiotic cream and bandages out of the cabinets. Turning off the water she slowly dried his hand.

"Does that hurt?" she asked.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Compared to two rounds in the chest, this is nothing."

"Jesus, how are you alive?" she asked.

"Either, I'll the luckiest bastard alive or he was the worst shot for a terrorist on the books," he joked. "I'm going with the terrorist being a bad shot because I'm not that lucky."

She applied the cream and began to bandage it. Once she was done she gave him a smile: "Sit and I'll get you some coffee."

"I take it light and sweet," he said.

"I'll remember that," Alice said.

"Good morning," said Shore as he entered the kitchen then looked at Tony. "What happened to you?"

"Clumsy. I poured coffee on myself," he said.

"Ouch," he said then gave his daughter a kiss on the head. "Thank you Florence Nightingale."

Alice made Tony a mug of coffee then she handed it to him.

"Thanks, Alice," he said.

"So how do you want to handle this today?" asked Shore.

"Easy. A very smart man once told me the way to solve a serial murder case is one murder at a time. What was the girl's name?" he asked Shore.

"Daniela White," he said.

"Shit," said Alice. "I knew her, too."

"I think we have a lead," said Tony.

NCIS

The first thing Ziva did was check into a Ramada Inn by the airport then she called the police and explained who she was and who she was looking for. They gave her the cellphone of Captain Shore. She called him.

"_Captain Shore_," he answered.

"Hello, my name is Special Agent Ziva David with NCIS and I am looking for Anthony DiNozzo," she said.

"_Tony is staying with me, Agent David. He's also working on my task force_," he said.

"Captain Shore, where is he now? It is paramount that I speak to him," she said.

"_He's working a crime scene in Chinatown_," he said.

"I'm here in town. How do I get to Chinatown from the airport?" she asked.

"_It's so important that you're in town, huh? I'll pick you up_," he said.

"I look forward to meeting you," she said then hung.

She looked forward to seeing Tony again, too.

NCIS

The yellow police tape didn't really keep people out of the storefront overnight. Tony noticed that whoever stayed in this abandoned place had come back that night. Squatting down, he checked out the floor around where some blankets and pillows were. He noticed a smoked cigarette butt, one that wasn't there yesterday.

"Do you have rubbery gloves and an evidence bag with you?" Tony asked the detective he was with.

"Hold on. Let me go to the car," he said.

As he detective left, he sighed and remained squatting. The Portland Police didn't even have a homicide division. Murders fell under Persons Crimes. The detective returned and handed black rubber gloves and an evidence bag. Tony put on the gloves, picked up the cigarette butt, and then he closed, sealed the bag, and signed it with a pen from his pocket. He handed to the detective.

"We need this processed right away so we can hopefully identify who smoked it," he said.

"Want me to rush it to the lab?" he asked with a hint of pleading in his tone.

The young detective had been stuck with Tony. He couldn't blame him for wanting to slip away from the old man and that was what Tony felt like right now. He was an old man, or, at least, the older man.

"Get going," he said.

"You'll be able to find your way back to the precinct?" the detective asked.

"I'll find my way," he said.

The detective bolted out of there leaving Tony alone with the crime scene. Memories of Daniela White flooded back to him. Her pale face and dead, lifeless eyes haunted him. Maybe finding her killer would make him rest at night. Maybe it would help to make the nightmares go away.

He stood up and kept staring at the spot where Daniela had been. Suddenly, he felt an oddly familiar presence standing behind him.

"Tony," Ziva said.

He turned to stare into the smoldering chocolate eyes of Ziva Davis. Wearing fatigues, a casual long sleeved shirt and a short, brown leather jacket, she has little makeup on and her hair pulled back so that her widow's peak appeared to be defiantly pointed at him and her hands crossed in front of her. He knew to most people this looked like a relaxed pose, but for Ziva it was a sign she was ready for action.

"Agent David. Did Gibbs send you after me?" he asked

She cringed at being addressed Agent David by Tony. This wasn't a sign of this going smoothly.

"You're life is in danger. I am here to protect you," she said.

"Don't want it and don't need it," he said.

"Tony, you don't want me?" she said with a smirk trying to bring some playfulness to their exchange.

"I should be careful how I answer you. You might kick the shit out of me if you don't like what I have to say," he said coldly then he walked past her and out of the store.

"Harah," she mumbled. "This is going to be harder than I thought."

With determination she turned and followed him out of the store. Tony was talking to Shore.

"We need the evidence I found run quickly so we can find out who she was sharing this storefront with," said Tony.

"I'll talk to forensics and put a rush on it," he said, "but DNA results are slow."

"I miss, Abby," said Tony.

"And she misses you," said Ziva, who was now standing behind him.

"Agent David explained that you have a contract out on your life, Tony" said Shore. "She'll be taking my other spare room. I can't afford to have you killed before you find the serial killer for me."

"You are a prince, Terry," Tony said.

"Tony, he is doing what is best for you," Ziva said. "Anyway, we will solve this case quicker working as a team."

"We aren't a team, Agent David," said Tony.

"DiNozzo working as a team, really? In Baltimore he used to solve cases while his partner tagged along," he said then looked at Tony. "When did you become a team player? I thought I brought in the super homicide detective, Tony DiNozzo."

"Gibbs says that Tony is the best agent he ever worked with," said Ziva.

"Gibbs' rule 51. Sometimes he is wrong," said Tony then he walked away.

"You two have some issues going on," Shore said.

"You have no idea," said Ziva.

"Is there anything I should know about the two of you?" asked Shore.

"Tony and I have a very complicated history," she said.

"If this is true then wouldn't it have been a better idea to send a different agent to protect him?" he asked.

"I will not let anyone hurt him," she answered with a conviction that brought a smile to Shore's face.

They both watch as Tony got into Shore's Charger and drove away.

"Son-of-a-bitch," mumbled Shore then he chuckled to himself. "Well, he hasn't changed much. When he loses his temper, he'll do whatever he wants to do."

"He can be unpredictable," she sighed.

"The car will be easy enough to trace, although that doesn't mean he'll stay with the car. The DiNozzo I knew in Baltimore, though, isn't this one. He's changed," said Shore.

"How?" asked Ziva curious as to the Baltimore Tony was like.

"He was pretty much happy back then," he said. "I mean happy like he had found what he was looking for out of life. I left before him, but I heard that he had a falling out with his partner Danny, which was a shock because Danny idolized Tony. Then I heard he left Baltimore, which was a shock, and his marriage plans with Wendy went south. The man I knew in Baltimore is still there, but he's changed."

"I would like to see him happy again," Ziva said.

NCIS

Tony ended up at the Bagdad Theater and Pub, mainly because it was a restaurant and a theater. He sat at the bar and ordered a stout called the Terminator. It black as night, tasted nice, and had a bit of a kick. Along with that he ordered an eight inch Bagdad special pizza. It was topped with Canadian bacon, pepperoni, sausage, onion, and artichoke hearts, which he picked off of it. Once he had finished the pizza and the stout, he ordered another stout. After his second stout, he ordered his first scotch, a 14 year old Oban. He was into his scotch, when Alice tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, getting drunk alone is a sign of depression," she said.

"Or being a cop," he said.

"I met Agent David," she said as she sat on the stool beside him. "Dad and she are searching for you."

"I'm right here," he said.

"I can see that," she said then ordered the same scotch as Tony.

The bartender set her glass in front of her then walked away after Tony told him to put it on his tab.

"Is it true there is a contract on your life?" she asked.

"I guess so," he sipped his scotch.

"Doesn't that scare you?" she asked.

"Can't live forever," he answered then cringed at his own answer. He sounded like Bogart playing a private detective, except Bogart got the girl and had more fun.

"Wow, you are depressed," she said.

"Not really. My mask is just off," he said then thought about Daniela White. "The homeless kids you said you knew who are vics of our serial killer how much did they confide in you?"

"They talked to me more than confided in me," she said.

"Any of them have complaints about being followed, hassled, or just someone giving them the creeps?" he asked.

"Two of them complained about a street cop who was always rousting them. They said he was a real prick to them," she said.

"Where were they killed?" he asked

"Old Town," she answered. "Why are you playing cop all of a sudden?"

"Because I can't' play the lover so I might as well be the cop," he told her.

She sipped her scotch: "My father admires you. Why?"

Tony drained his glass then shook letting the bartender know he wanted a refill. He brought the bottle over to Tony and refilled his glass. The man was working on an extra generous tip.

"You'd have to ask him. I have no reason why," he said.

She asked him another question, but he had entered his own mind. Homeless, killed without being noticed, cop, and pieces were starting already to set to be knocked over. He needed some evidence and some luck and this case would fall into placed and then he could get into the car and move on.

"Earth to DiNozzo," she tapped her forefinger against his forehead.

He gave her one of those smiles he reserved for women when he wanted to melt their hearts. She laughed.

"You're good," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"That is a killer smile. I bet you get a lot of women into bed with that one," she said.

"Or to leave me alone," he said then drained his scotch.

"You want to see a movie with me. If you want we can sit in the balcony and neck," she offered.

"Do you have father issues?" he asked.

"Nay. You're just a real good looking man, Tony, but you know that," she said.

"Just making sure," he said then he stopped himself. "Wait a minute, you're Terry's daughter. I could never go to the second balcony with you."

"Cop thing, right?" she sighed.

"Exactly. Man's got to be able to trust his partner," he said then thought of Ziva.

He trusted her. Hell, he loved her, when he was being honest with himself. But, so much had passed between them and a lot of it wasn't what he'd call relationship enhancers. He'd killed her boyfriend. Oh, she'd kicked his butt and threatened him more than once. And thought him a food more than once. But he supposed he was a fool. He needed more scotch.

NCIS

"So I was chasing after this guy and I tackled him, arrested him, brought him back to the station house and he turns out to be a navy cop," he regaled her with his story how he met Gibbs.

She helped him up the porch steps. He'd managed to imbibe fix more scotches before all the alcohol caught up to him and he started becoming sentimental and reminiscing about people she didn't know. Yet, she enjoyed it.

They got to the top step and her father was waiting at the door. He opened it.

"He and I were the MCRT for a year until we finally found Kate then we became three," he said.

Ziva was standing behind Shore. Her face was a mask of calm, even though she wasn't all that happy with a drunk Tony draped over Alice for support.

"Shouldn't you be out closing the case?" Shore asked him.

"Think I know who did it, just need proof," said Tony.

"That's the DiNozzo I remember. In the morning you'll be sober and you can start collecting the proof," laughed Shore.

"Might have to wait until the afternoon. Getting old so I don't bounce back like I used to," he smiled.

Tony looked at the steps and shook his head.

"I'm sleeping on the couch," he said.

"Don't blame you. My knees tend to hurt when I drink as much as you did tonight," said Shore.

Alice shifted Tony over to her father then kissed his cheek.

"Thanks for an entertaining night," she said then looked at her father. "Be gentle with him."

She walked past them stopping beside Ziva. Leaning in she whispered to her: "He loves you but he's too damned bent on breaking away from you and this Gibbs and NCIS to give into that love. Don't let him go."

Shore helped Tony into the living room and the sofa.

Ziva looked at the younger woman. Alice returned the stare. Ziva had to be only four or five years older than her, yet she seemed older.

"He talked about me," Ziva said.

"You and Gibbs and Abby and McGee and Ducky and Jimmy. He thinks of you as family, well not you. He thinks of you in another way. you can see it in his eyes. They turn to lava when he talks about you then there is pain. He's crazy about you. Is it true that you went undercover as married assassins?" she asked Ziva.

"Did he tell you he saved my life and risked his on that mission and I barely knew him?" Ziva asked her.

"No. But he did tell me he accidental flashed the director of the agency," she said.

Ziva laughed. She'd forgotten that had his robe open and a camera on him.

"You love him, too, don't you?" asked Alice.

Ziva looked down at the floor as if she was embarrassed to admit it: "Yes."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Six

Stan and McGee were scared to even make eye contact with Gibbs. The looked like he was ready to chew steel and spit out nails. So far that had brought in four men with ties to terrorism and/or Kalil Greene and Gibbs wasn't able to get even a whisper out of them before their lawyers showed up and got them released. Now he had them checking every agency you could name for information on this Kalil Greene.

Stan sat up and stretched for a moment to try and get a kink out of his back, when Gibbs' head snapped up and he glared at the man.

"Do you have something?" he barked.

"No, boss. I'm just stretching. My back is a little tight," Stan said.

"Get back to work," Gibbs snarled.

It was at moments like this that McGee most missed Tony. He would take the brunt, if not all, of Gibbs' bad moods for the team. In time he'd force Gibbs into giving him a head slap, or threaten him with job loss then Gibbs would storm out of the office to get a coffee giving them room to work without fear of death and inevitably improving Gibbs' mood. To the outsider it merely appeared like Tony was a juvenile delinquent in an expensive suit or the class clown, but McGee had learned that it was a method of dealing with Gibbs.

When Tony was team leader for four months while Gibbs' retired, but not, in Mexico, he joked and had light moments, but there was no class clown and he was far from juvenile. Tony came in at six in the morning and left a midnight most knights. He was a different man, a little too much like Gibbs for McGee's taste but not as intense or ready to bite your head off.

"McGee, have you hacked into the CIA yet to get their file of Kalil Greene?" Gibbs asked.

"Working on it, boss. They have upgraded and now some impressive firewalls so I am attempting..."

"McGee, if you give me one sentence of techno babble I am taking you down to the gym, putting boxing gloves and going five rounds. And no head gear and no holding back," Gibbs warned him.

"It's going to take me a couple of more hours," said McGee.

Gibbs stood up and stormed out of the bullpen. He headed to the elevator and down to autopsy to visit Ducky. Walking into autopsy he heard Jimmy and Ducky talking.

"Fascinatingly enough for years doctors believed the appendix to be useless but now some scientists believe the appendix harbors bacteria that helps with good digesting," Ducky lectured.

"I read where they believe humans will evolve so that they no longer need their thumbs, though one wonders how people will use the remote control for their TV," said Jimmy.

"Ah, Jethro, why do we have the honor of your company?" asked Ducky as he noticed him.

"I wanted to know if you've heard from Tony at all, Duck," he said.

"Not since I allowed you and Ziva to speak to him. He is probably annoyed with me and apprehensive to call me," said Ducky.

Gibbs looked at Jimmy: "You?"

"No, Agent Gibbs. Tony told me that when he finally got back we were going to dinner, but that's the last time I talked to him," said Palmer.

"Missing Anthony, Jethro?" asked Ducky.

"I'd feel better if his protection was more than Ziva considering he's apt to slip out the back door on her and run away," he said.

"I'm sure Ziva can take care of herself," said Ducky.

"Let's hope so," exhaled Gibbs.

NCIS

Tony tried to leave in the morning before Ziva was ready but he was unable to find his car keys to make an escape. As he searched his clothes one more time to see if they were on him, Ziva came down the stairs dressed and ready for the day and twirling Tony's car keys on his right forefinger. As she got almost to the bottom step, she tossed him the keys.

"You are not going anywhere without me," she said.

"Fine," he said through gritted teeth.

They got in the car with Tony driving.

"Where are we going?" Ziva asked.

"Old Town," he said.

"You said last night that you know who did this," she said, "so who did it?"

"A cop. I just have to find out which one and prove it," he said.

"A cop. You didn't tell Captain Shore about your theory," she said.

"And I won't until I have proof. Cops don't like to take down another cop. It can be painful," he said.

"You are a cop," she said.

"I was cop. And this might be the last time I do this," he admitted.

Ziva looked at him with a furrowed brow. She didn't like the idea of Tony not returning to NCIS.

"You don't want to return to NCIS?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," he said.

"But you are an excellent agent," Ziva said.

"Please, Zi, you don't have to bullshit me. There have been plenty of times you didn't think my work was excellent. Anyway, I told Vance if I do return I want off Gibbs' team," he told her.

Ziva tried to keep the look of shock out of her face.

"But you love being part of the MCRT," she said. "You have no idea what position he could place you in."

"As long as it isn't an agent afloat, I'm fine with it. I'll settle for contingency agent working cold cases. That's if I return," he said told her.

"Tony, you love NCIS," said Ziva.

"Agent David," he sighed.

"No. Don't Agent David me, Tony; Please, tell me why you would leave us," she said.

Exhaling slowly, Tony steadied his nerves: "I figure at my age that I've got one last more in me. If I decide that being a cop is really part of who I am then I'll send out some feelers and try one last time to find somewhere were I belong."

"You belong at NCIS," Ziva said softly.

"It doesn't feel like it anymore," he retorted. "Now, can we stop this conversation. I want to find this fucking killer before another girl like Daniela is murdered."

"What are we doing now?" she asked.

"Interviewing homeless youth to see if we can find a few who will talk to us about Daniela White," he said.

"May I help you with this?" she asked.

"If you want to," he said.

"I want to," Ziva replied.

NCIS

Gibbs walked into his favorite dinner and saw Fornell eating a sandwich waiting for him at the counter. He sat down on the swivel top stool beside Fornell and accepted a cup of coffee from the waitress behind the counter.

"Thanks, Elaine," he said then took a sip.

"Can I get you anything else?" she asked him.

"Just coffee," he smiled.

She walked away to wait on other customers.

"Tobias, you have anything on Kalil Greene?" he asked.

"He's a nasty piece of work, Jethro," said Fornell.

"How nasty?" he asked.

"He's wanted for suspicion on five murders and is thought to travel around the country assisting growing terror cells any way he can," said "He raises money, sets up infrastructure, and whatever they need."

"Why hasn't he been caught?" asked Gibbs.

"We got a name, at least what he calls himself now. But we don't have a description of photograph. All we know about him is that he's from Vancouver, British Columbia, and he thinks the US is the great Satan," said Fornell.

"And he wants DiNozzo, Dead or Alive," Gibbs said.

"You worry about DiNozzo, don't you?" said Fornell.

"He has a way of getting into trouble," said Gibbs.

"It's more than that," said Fornell. "You look out for him more than you do most."

"He needs it," said Gibbs.

"Yeah, fathers and sons, they make for interesting relationship," smiled Fornell.

"DiNozzo had a father," growled Gibbs.

"I know," laughed Fornell.

NCIS

Tony parked his car at Union Station with it's Romanesque clock tower near the Williamette River and headed inside the station. Like most old station the inside was spacious, verging on the impressive. The seating was thick, sturdy wooden benches. Already there were people waiting to for their train to destination unknown. Many sat listening to their i-Pods, or reading a book or e-reader.

Mixed among the travelers were a few homeless youths, one playing a guitar trying to raise some money and another two selling handmade trinkets. Tony pulled out a photo of Daniela White and handed it to Ziva.

"You talk to those two and I'll take the guitar," he said.

She took it, nodded and walked over. Tony drifted over to the guitar player, who was now playing some song Tony had never heard before. He saw that his case had a few dollars and mainly change. Tony dropped a fifty into the case causing the guitar player to stop.

"Who are you?" he asked suspiciously.

He moved his Armani and showed him his badge: "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."

"Ain't breaking any laws," he said.

"You play well and I'm not here to bust you or hassle you. I want two things: a bit of information and to use your guitar for a few minutes. I haven't played in awhile," he said.

The last time he played was when he was undercover for Jenny keeping an eye on The Frog. He was a street performer making up a reggae influenced song. The homeless kid, who was no older then seventeen, slipped his guitar strap over his shoulder and handed Tony the guitar bringing a smile to his face.

Tony slipped the strap on and strummed the guitar, noticed it needed some tuning. He tuned it then he started playing and signing.

"_Oh, I'm being followed by a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow. _

_Leapin' and hoppin' on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow. _

_And if I ever loose my hands, lose my plough, lose my land,_

_Oh, if I ever lose my hands, oh, if I won't have to work anymore._

_And if I ever lose my eyes, if my color all run dry,_

_Yes, if I lose my eyes, of, if I won't have to cry no more._

_Oh, I'm being followed by a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow. _

_Leapin' and hoppin' on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow," _he sang then stopped.

As small crowd had gathered, a few applauded then and some tossed some change into the case, then they drifted away leaving Ziva standing their with an expression on her face that Tony couldn't read. He handed the guitar back to the boy.

"My name is Gareth," he said.

"Tony," said Tony then he showed him the picture of Daniela. "Have you ever seen her before?"

"She was one of those murdered, isn't she?" he said.

"Yeah. I want to stop anymore of that from happening. Cut me some slack. Have you seen her?" he asked.

"Seen, but never talked to her. Girl I know who plays guitar like me, also, used to be friendly with her. Her name is Sally, blonde and kind of cute. She hangs at the Skidmore Fountain," he said.

"Thanks, Gareth," Tony said.

He walked over to Ziva, who continued to look at him differently. She was finally starting to realize that there were so much of himself that Tony hid, even from her, and she wanted to know all of him.

"You get anything?" he asked.

"No."

"Well, let's see this Sally," he said.

They walking towards the exit.

"Tony, you play and sing lovely," she said.

"I used lose myself in music and sports as a kid. Sometimes it felt like they were all I had," he told her, then regretted opening up a little.

He didn't want to open up; he wanted to close down and move on. Opening up will only make it harder to move on. But then again, he always had a hard time refusing Ziva. No matter how she pushed him away or treated him, he was drawn to her. It was starting to annoy him.

"I have realized that I've told you so much more about myself than you have told me about yourself. It isn't fair," she said.

"My first football coach told me when I tried out for quarterback the first time and didn't make it - life isn't fair, so kick its ass before it kicks yours," Tony said.

"So when did you become a quarterback?" she asked.

"The next year. I spent a year strengthening my arm strength," he said. "It helped that we had a shitty offensive line and once up a time I used to be able to run with speed and grace. Brad Pitt ruined that for me."

"The actor?" she said.

"I forget you weren't there when I got the plague. No, Dr. Brad Pitt. He saved my life and takes care of lungs. He played for Michigan and tackled me and broken my kneecap and tore the ACL and MCL. I hated him then but now we're friends. He was pissed off that I took off because I'm missing one of his checkups for my lungs," he said.

"Is there a problem with your lungs?" she asked with concern.

"There is always a problem with them, but he deals with them. I don't jog like I used because of them. Running is getting more painful to do every year. He keeps reminding me that a chest cold or pneumonia could kill me, like I needed reminding," he sighed. "Maybe I should look only at warm weather states this time for a new job."

Ziva listened and her stomach clenched. She remembered all the times she teased him about being out of breath after chasing down a suspect or saying no to an after work run and then telling him he needed it because he was putting on weight. She never realized he struggled with his lungs so much and she had profiled him for Mossad when she was Ari's handler. Back then, though, Tony was a photograph and a background not a real person to her.

"If a bullet doesn't kill, at least, I know how I'm going to die - lack of oxygen because my lungs finally gave out," he chuckled.

Ziva felt the sting of tears in her eyes, but forced the tears down. They walked out of the station and now were in the parking lot.

"Brad wants me to start carrying an inhaler and has suggested taking some form of medication on a daily basis to try to prevent the inevitable, which is an end of field work because my lungs won't let chase anyone," he said then he shook his head. "I'm starting to sound like a complaining wimp. No wonder you threaten to kick my ass so much. Enough bullshit talk. I'm hoping this Sally can fill in some blanks for me."

"Talking about your health is not bullshit talk," Ziva snapped. "I never realized just how much your lungs bother you."

"They're my lungs so why would I bother you with them," he told her. "Gibbs expects that every winter I get sick and need a hospital visit as a preventive. He usually decides when it is for me because he'll hear a wheeze he doesn't like and then he brings me to see Brad himself. I usually call it a mental health vacation."

"So, you don't go to Atlantic City for three or four days, but you go into the hospital," she said.

"Yeah. I spend two or three days in the hospital getting oxygen and pumped full antibiotics. Sometimes they do therapies on me which are a real fun," he said and shivered from a memory then he paused. "It doesn't matter, though." "Tony, it does matter," Ziva said.

"No, it doesn't. Finding this killer does, though," he said as they came up on his car.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to share my shit with you," he said.

"What if I tell you I want you to share with me and that I think you should listening to your doctor?" she said.

"I'd tell you that I'm not worth it," he said then he got into the car.

Waves of frustration washed over Ziva, but she exhaled and got in the car. She knew this was going to be easy, though, she didn't realize hard difficult a road it would be.

They arrived at the Italianate Skidmore Fountain where both of them spotted a blonde hair girl playing the guitar. She was a singing a Simon and Garfunkel song.

"I'll talk to her. You can stay here if you want," he said.

"I've got your six," Ziva said.

"Yeah, sure," he said then he got out of the car and walked over to Sally.

Instead of interrupting her playing he sat down beside her and pulled out the photograph and showed it to her while she sang. She stopped playing and looked at him.

"Let me buy you lunch and then we can talk," he said.

"Okay," she said.

Tony took them to Sally's choice, which was the vegetarian House. They at a rickety table and Ziva ordered the veggie lemon chicken and Sally ordered veggie Kung Pao chicken, while Tony ordered himself a hot & sour soup. Everyone had an ice tea.

"Sally, tell me about Daniela," said Tony.

"She was sweet. Originally, she was from St. Paul Minnesota. I knew her about a year, though we weren't as close as we used to be lately. She started to do drugs and I don't do them," he said stopped talking and lost her self in memory.

"She ever talk to you about be harassed or followed?" asked Ziva.

"Just a couple of days ago she came to me and said she was afraid. She said she wanted to get clean," she said.

"Why?" asked Tony.

"Because a hard assed cop was hassling her and her friends and he scared her," she said.

"She described the cop as big, muscular and," she paused. "She said he hand big strong hands and on the back of the right hand he had an eagle tatoo."

The food came and Sally look at Tony play eith his soup.

"You should have got a meal if you dint' like soup," she said.

"Tony is a meat eater," she said.

"I remember you liking a Philly cheese steak, Agent David," said Tony.

"I do but I like this, too. I am more flexible than you," she purred with a smile.

"I can imagine," he said.

"Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?" Sally asked.

"No," said Tony. "We work together."

"You seem like you belong together," said Sally.

"Why?" asked Ziva.

"I don't know. You just seem to fit together," Sally said.

Tony took out his wallet and pulled out a fifty and Alice's business card. He slipped them both over to Sally.

"There is some monye and the card of someone you can trust to help you," he said. "Get off the streets, Sally. They are dangerous."

"I'll think about," she said as she put the money and card in her jeans.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Seven

_He dreamed he was in total darkness. All about him was black, so much so that he couldn't even see the outline of the wall of the room he was in. He searched for light, searched for a way out, but all he found was blackness and deadends. Panic started to set in. He was never getting out of this room alive. And now it felt like the walls were closing in on him. _

_He started pounding on the walls, trying t find an escape. But there wasn't one. _

With a groan of fear he woke up to the navy blue darkness of the spare bedroom. Running the back of his hand across his sweaty forehead he was imbued with the compulsion to get out of bed and out of the house. He got out of bed and grabbed a pair of jean, a grey Hugo Boss dress shirt, slipped on loafers, put on his Armani blazer, grabbed car keys, gun and badge then he headed down the stairs. 

As he hit the front door, he heard someone clear their throat. Turning around he saw Ziva standing on the stairs in sweat pants and OSU tee shirt.

"Where are you going without me?" she asked.

"Out," he answered.

"It's quarter to four in the morning," she said.

"I thought I'd visit the storefront. I have a feeling those kids she hung with are still using it, even though it's a crime scene," he said.

"Tony, I am your protection," she said.

"Then get dressed," he said.

She nodded then turned and ran up the stairs. He opened the front door, quietly closed and headed to his car. As he pulled away, he saw a fuming Ziva on the front porch watching him drive away.

Getting to Chinatown, he parked his car and headed to the abandoned storefront. Quietly, he opened the door and softly walked into the storefront. Since his eyes were adjusted to the night, he saw some cigarette butts on the floor. His guess was that they were now sleeping in the backroom instead of out front.

Again trying to not make much sound he proceeded around the empty front counter and to the door that led to the back. He slowly opened and started to walk in when suddenly three flashlight lights hit him in the face.

"Wow, blinding me," he said.

"We'll do use that to you," threatened a female voice that so no older than sixteen.

Tony pulled back his blazer and showed them his badge.

"I'm here about Daniela," he said.

"Don't trust cops," said a male voice that had an older edge to it, maybe nineteen.

"Is that because some muscle head cop with a tat of an eagle on his right hand has been hassling you?" he asked.

"Yeah," said the older voice.

"Can you lower the flashlights then so I can see?" he asked trying to sound reasonable and calm. "I think I can help you guys."

Just then he heard a creak of a floorboard behind him. On instincts developed over too many years as a cop and federal agent, he drew his sidearm and pivoted around quickly to hear and feel a gunshot. He returned fired into the shadowy figure putting three in the chest.

Behind him he heard the homeless youth scrambling for their stuff and bolting out of the backdoor. He would have pursued but he had two problems: one, a dead body of someone who just tried to kill him and two, a burning in his upper left arm.

A Charger pulled up in front of the store and he saw Ziva jump put of the passenger seat and rush into the store. The fury in her eyes quickly turned to concern when she saw the dead body then she looked at Tony and saw his left arm dangling from his side.

"You're shot?" she asked him.

"Gazed," he said.

Shore came into the store and saw the dead body.

"Is this our perp?" he asked.

"No, I believe it's someone trying to collect on the contract for Tony's life," Ziva said.

_"_Shit," said Shore.

With her small flashlight she checked his wound. It was more than a graze. There was an entrance wound and no exit wound in the muscle and it was bleeding badly. There was still a bullet in his arm.

"We need a bus," she said.

Shore handed her a handkerchief, which used as a tourniquet on his wound.

"I though you were going to wait for me," she said.

"All I said was get dressed," he said.

"Well, next I'll sleep at the foot of your bed to make sure you don't do this again," she said.

NCIS

While Tony went in for emergency surgery to have the bullet removed, Ziva and Shore sat in the waiting room. He had just recieved a text telling him the name of the dead man was Aleef Nassir. He told Ziva.

"I let Gibbs to know to run a check on him," said Ziva.

For a moment there was silence sitting with them in the waiting room. Shore felt uneasy, so he decided to fill in the silent gaps.

"I became friends with DiNozzo when he took a knife wound meant for me. A hooker was killing her Johns. Tony and Danny and my partner and I were sent to pick her up. She seemed like she was going to come in without a fight when Tony sees a glint of a knife and pushes me out of the way and takes the damn knife in his side. Son-of-a-bitch only took two days of leave. He said he was bored," explained Shore.

"He is a good partner," said Ziva.

"That was the first time I ever went out on a call with him. Before that I used to tease him as a pretty boy. We were both jocks, but there was something aloof about Tony. As much as he pretended to be one of the boys, he wasn't," said Shore.

"What was he?" she asked him.

"No fucking idea. Mr. Contradiction, maybe. A rich boy, who didn't have money or did he because even though he complained about money, he never seemed to be broke. A jock who wasn't supposed to have read a book, yet he corrects people's English and has a more extensive vocabulary then people notice. The jokester with the dark side. The charming womanizer who doesn't like to be touched unless it's for reason. Shit, the ncoe guy, who can be an arrogant prick," he laughed. "He kept me on my toes tryign to figure him out and I still haven't. My daughter, who is liberal in her approach to sex, told me she all but threw herself at him and he showed no interest. I remember when he started dating Wendy; he barely looked at another woman. Mr. Contradiction."

"He is confusing," she said.

A nurse came out and looked annoyed. Ziva hid a smile because she knew that it must be about Tony.

Shore stood up: "I'm Captain Shore."

"Mr. DiNozzo is in recovery and already wanting to leave," she sighed. "Do either of you know if he has an adverse reaction to painkillers?"

"They make him goofy," Ziva said.

"Low tolerance. He usually only takes Advid or aspirin," said Shore.

"Yes, well, he is acting impatient and goofy," the nurse said.

"He won't stay in the hospital as long as you want him to, so we can we take him home?" asked Shore.

"I'll talk to the doctor, maybe this evening," she said. "He'll have to wear the sling a month or so."

Ziva snorted a laugh.

"How about a week or two?" the nurse said.

"I think I can force him to wear it that long," said Ziva.

"You are a patient girlfriend," the nurse said and Ziva smiled.

The nurse walked away and Shore looked at Ziva.

"Girlfriend?" he asked.

"Yes. He just doesn't recognize it yet," she smiled.

NCIS

Tony sat on the sofa while Shore them a scotch. He handed him a glass then sat down with his own. Ziva came in from the ktichen with a sandwich for Tony. She placed it down on the table and sat beside him. As he brough the scotch up to his lips she took it away from him.

"You are taking painkillers, so you shouldn't drink," she said.

"Not going to take painkillers," said Tony, as he took bacl the drink.

He and Ziva stared at each other for a few moments causing Shore to chuckle.

"Get a room," he said.

They both turned their heads and stared at Shore. Tony was the one to break the silence.

"Uniformed cop, muscular with an eagle tat on the back of his hand, do you know him?" asked Tony.

"Why?" asked Shore.

"I bet his hand size fits the size of the hands used to choke of homeless kids," said Tony.

"Jesus Christ," Shore mumbled. "What else do you have on him?"

"He was seen hassling every one that killed. Circumstantial, I know, but call it my instincts. This cop is the killer," said Tony.

"What's the next step?" asked Shore.

"You find out which one of your cops fits the description and then I talk to him," Tony said.

"I do not like this," Ziva said.

"You can be there," said Tony.

"I like it better," she said.

"I don't like it," said Shore.

"But you'll do it," Tony said.

"Yeah, I'll do it," said Shore

NCIS

Gibbs looked at the file on Aleef Nassir. He spent three in Rikers Island for violent robbery. While in prison he began to associate with radicals. Once he got out he began spending his time at a radical mosque in Brooklyn. From Brooklyn he moved out first to Seattle and then to Portland. And now he was in the morgue in Portland thanks to DiNozzo. He exhaled a long stream of air from his lungs.

"Stan, I want to know everything about the mosque that Nassir was involved with in Brooklyn," he ordered.

"Yes, boss," said Stan.

"McGee, find out everything you can about his time in Seattle and Portland," ordered Gibbs.

"Yes, boss," said McGee then he took a deep breath. "How's Tony?"

"Shot in the arm," he answered. "He'll be fine."

"You tell Abby, boss; she's worried about him," said McGee.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. He had a choice between going out to the dinner and getting a good cup of coffee and assauging Abby's fears. It wasn't really a choice. He stood up.

"I'll be down at Abby's," he said.

NCIS

Because of a mix of painkillers and scotch there were no nightmares. Tony has managed to sleep. Yes, it was a drug induced sleep but it was sleep. He got out of bed gingerly and tried to stretch without popping stitches or causing himself too much pain.

He looked at himself in the mirror, which was in the bedroom. There was a time he used to joke that chicks liked scars, but now he realized that between the scars on his lungs and body, he was just old damaged goods with the emphasis on the old.

"Does you banadage need changing?" Ziva asked him making him forget about his scars and age and jump through his skins.

"Do you have a religious aversion to knocking?" he asked her, as he stood there in just his sweat pants.

He noticed in the mirror that she wore fatigues, a white tee shirt and an enigmatic smile. Her hair was down and curly, which was his favorite look for her.

"Bandage?" said Ziva as she entered his personal space getting too close for Tony's liking.

"Maybe after I shower?" he said.

"You are not supposed to get the stitches wet," she said.

"I don't want to take a sponge bath," he sighed.

"You could take a bath and I could help you, yes?" she said.

"I'll deal," he said.

"Except my help, motek," she said.

"I don't speak Hebrew," he said.

"Amorcito. Tesoro. Cheri. Sevgilim. Leibling," she offered him several other languages to choose from, including two she knew he spoke.

Tony took a deep breath and exhaled. She saw not only in his body language but in eyes that he was a man who was close to giving up. He was not on the edge but on the precipice looking down a steep decline and was on the verge to tumbling down without a fight. And she couldn't allow that. It had taken long enough to admit but she loved him and she was sure that he loved her.

"I'll take a sponge bath then," he said then he turned to go into the bathroom.

"Tony," she stopped him.

She closed the gap between them and reached up and placed her hands on huus face and attacked his lips with her own. There was no mistaking the almost electric current of attraction that passed between them. Tony at first fought the kiss, but within seconds he was devouring her mouth and tongue until he gained control of his sense then he backed away.

His green eyes seemed to have darken and he glared at her. She knew him well enough that she knew he was angry for losing control. He started to speak but stopped himself. Finally, he found his voice.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I love you," she said.

"Don't," he said then turned and went into the bath locking the door behind him.

NCIS

According to Shore the name of the cop was Allan Webb. He had asked around about him and got pretty much the same answer from everyone he talked to: loner. Webb didn't talk much and he shared nothing. He was a locked up thight personality who liked to lift weigths and MMA.

He lived in the St. Johns neighbrhood, which was North Portland at the tip of a peninsula formed by the confluence of the Williamette and Columbia Rivers. One of the things the neighborhood was known for was a thriving farmers market. After parking the car, Shore, Tony, and Ziva waded through the mass of people.

It was Webb's day off and they wanted to try and catch him at his home. As men and women sold everything from organic tomoatoes to sheep milk cheese, they had their eyes open just in case they spotted Webb among the crowd. Using the crowd and their slow pace as a tool, Tony started to put some separation between him and Ziva.

Maybe it was the instincts of a man who'd been an investigator for most of his life, but Tony looked behind him and saw a man muscular man around six feet tall talking to a vendor selling purple potatoes. He turned around without drawing the attention of Shore or Ziva and walked up to Alan Webb. Get up close to him; he decided to cut to the chase. If Gibbs had taught him anything it was to poke the bear when the bear wasn't expecting it.

Tony picked up one of the purple potatoes and smiled.

"Interesting color," he said then he looked at Webb. "I wonder if it turns your teeth purple when you eat it."

"Never thought of that," laughed Webb.

"Yeah, you were probably too busy killing homeless kids," Tony smoothly said.

Webb's face went blank and he looked closely at Tony and recognized him from the news conference. In a split second Webb made up his mind what to do and that was run. He balled up his right hand and connected with the the left side of Tony's face, as he moved since he was expecting it. The force of the punch still stumbled Tony.

Webb took off with Tony in pursuit. As the two men took off their was a commotion from the crowd drawing the attention of Shore and Ziva. Without hesitation they started off in pursuit of the two men. Ziva had the form and determiantion of long distance runner, which she needed since Webb was faster than he looked and Tony was close behind him.

A turn down this street and up another Tony took his sling off and tossed it aside. Webb kept himself in great shapre running, like Ziva, five miles a day, but Tony had the arrogance of a one time top jock going for him. Between his days playing basketball and football he refused to slow down or quite, even as his lungs began to burn. He didn't know how long they had been running for, a quarter of mile maybe a little more, but they finally came to the St. Johns Bridge.

It was an impressive suspension bridge and Webb started running across it. Tony heard Ziva's calls to stop behind him but ignored them. His legs were now starting to burn from the pace and lack of oxygen, as his lungs continued to prove stubbornly ineffective. Webb tripped slightly over his own feet, a sign the pace was getting to him. Tony saw this as his cahcne to catch the man.

Webb did the unexpected, though and climbed up on the side on the bridge railing looking like he was going to do a Greg Louganis into the water. Tony reached him just as he jumped grabbing his leg with his good arm. The weight and momentum of the large man pulled Tony over the side also and seemingly into a death fall into the Williamette River.

Ziva saw Tony got over the side and screamed. It was partly a scream of anger and partly one of horror. Somehow she picked up speed and reached the spot where he went over the side to see him clinging to the to the bridge with his bad arm. There was no sign of Webb.

Leaning precariously over the side of the bridge, she grabbed his hand with both of hers.

"You might fall with me, let go," he ordered.

"Never," she screamed at him.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Eight

According to the doctor, all he needed was new stitches and to have his shoulder put back into place after dislocating from holding onto the bridge. When Shore went to the his apartment they found that he kept souvenirs, pieces of clothing, from the victims and a dairy in which he talked about his thrill at killing. Alan Webb was a serious serial killer at his beginning. He was preying on the defenseless to beginning with, just as many other serial killers start with prostitutes after graduating from killing pets. There was no reason for him other than he was a born killer.

With Webb dead Tony knew his time is Portland was over. He also knew that they only way to get rid of Ziva was by returning to DC, at least for a short time.

"I will drive since you have one arm for now, yes?" she said, as she walked down the porch steps and put the luggage in the trunk of the car.

"Thank you for what you've done," said Alice then she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I wish we stopped him sooner," said Tony.

"At least, he's stopped now. That's all that counts, Tony," she said.

"Tony, you sure you need to leave now because the chief you'd love to have a press conference with you?" asked Shore with a smirk.

"Very funny, Terry. My last press conference got me into enough trouble" said Tony.

"The Chief does want to thank you in person, Tony, if you are willing," said Shore.

"Tell him that he doesn't have to thank me at all because I did it for my buddy," Tony smiled.

He walked down the porch and to the car where Ziva was waiting for him at the driver's door. She waved to them and got into the car as did Tony. He had to admit she seemed to be in a good mood. Starting it up, she started the trip with some burned rubber as she sped down the street.

"I want to take my time getting to DC, so, please, don't break the speed limit," he said.

"I am glad you agreed that we should drive home together," said Ziva.

"You really didn't give me much choice when you told me that you weren't leaving my side," he said then paused, "ever. I hope you are exaggerating about the length of time."

"No, I don't believe I was exaggerating," she said. "I believe forever is the appropriate length of time for us, Ahuvi."

"Ziva," he stopped for a moment to compose what he wanted to say in his mind. "Are you daft, woman? You almost went up and over the side of the bridge to your death because you wouldn't let go of me. Trust me, I'm not worth plunging to your death for. If Shore didn't show up and pull your ass back you'd be dead and that's something..."

He stopped himself before he said anything else. She sat perfectly calm and drove pulling into the nearest parking spot then she turned in her seat.

"It is my turn to speak now, Tony, yes?" she said with a smile.

"Sure, it's your turn to speak," he said.

"I love you, which means if you are going to be so stupid to put yourself in a position to die then I will be there to make sure that you don't. I am also going to make sure you see Dr. Pitt when we get back to DC so he can prescribe whatever medicines he thinks will help your lungs and I will make you take those medicines," she said the words calmly and clearly.

"I can't talk to you. You're not listening," he sighed then he turned his head and looked out the window.

"We will have plenty of time together. You will talk to me eventually," she said.

"So you say," he sighed.

"So, I know," she smiled.

NCIS

Gibbs stared at Vance then at Fornell as they sat in Vance's office at the conference table. Ever since DiNozzo took off Gibbs has been in a bad mood, but once there was a contract on his head, Gibbs became a black hole where good moods went to die.

"Ziva called me and said she is driving DiNozzo back to DC from Portland, Oregon," said Gibbs.

"What was your boy doing in Portland?" asked Vance.

"Visiting a friend and finding a serial killer in his free time," Gibbs said with a smirk.

Everyone knew that DiNozzo and Vance had a difficult relationship and Gibbs never failed to enjoy promoting the skills of DiNozzo to Vance. Vance for his part had come to a realization that DiNozzo had valuable skills, even if they were skills he didn't quite understand.

"You mean on his journey to discover if he wants to do this job any longer, he stops in Portland, Oregon and tracks down a serial killer," Vance stated.

"And he didn't use a computer," Gibbs smirked.

Vance glared at him.

"I've told you more than once that he the best agent I've ever worked with," said Gibbs.

"Can we talk about the reason I'm here?" said Fornell.

"The reason you're here is DiNozzo, Tobias," Gibbs said.

"No, the reason I'm here is Kalil Greene," Fornell corrected him.

"Has the FBI found him, Agent Fornell?" asked Vance.

"We are getting closer. We have a CI that placed him in Brooklyn two weeks," said Fornell

"Get a description of him yet, Tobias?" asked Gibbs.

"No, not yet," he sighed. 'The son-a-bitch is elusive to say the least."

"I see your CI isn't that wellmconnected then," remarked Vance.

"We need Kalil to find out who is putting the money up for this contract on DiNozzo," said Gibbs. "I want the money man behind this."

"We all do, Gibbs," said Vance.

NCIS

They had stooped at a motel room off the highway in Idaho getting renting a room with two double beds. This was at the insistence of Ziva, who refused a room of her own. Rather than fight in front of the front desk clerk he agreed to the sleeping arrangement. He could deal with two beds, just as long as she stayed on her side of the room.

After indulging in a couple of beers and a hamburger and fried at a local dive, they returned to the room. it was a dreary little room that reminded Ziva of some of the placed she stayed in Eastern Europe. Every time Ziva tried to start a conversation with him, Tony deflected or tuned her out. It was frustrating but she refused to lose her temper knowing that was what he wanted. A big fight would give him an excuse not to talk. Finally, she retreated to reading on her Kindle knowing she had time to wear him down and he fell asleep early.

Around two in the morning she heard the groans coming from him. They were groans of pleasure or pain, but they were ones of anguish. Sitting up in bed she watched as he squirmed as if in some kind of emotional pain. He was having a nightmare, something Ziva could understand having had more than one in her life, especially after the torture and anguish of Somalia. She watched for a few moments as his body tried to fight off the nightmare he was having. Whatever it was she could see that it caused him to suffer, so she got up and sauntered over to his bed. Like him she was dressed in sweat pants and OSU tee shirt, and even though she felt the urge to take her off before getting into bed with him she stopped herself. She needed not to give him a reason to put more walls up but to start taking them down.

Sitting on the edge of his bed she began to gently rub his back, which immediately began to calm him down. It was odd but each other's touch always had an effect on them right from the very start. Once he was calm, Ziva slipped into Tony's bed with him and wrapped herself around his body. For the rest of the night he no longer had nightmares, he no longer groaned.

NCIS

The next morning when he woke up with Ziva in bed with him, he made a decision not to talk about it, or even acknowledge it, but neither would he complain to her about it. He had to admit, though, that it had been the best sleep he had in a very long time. _How fucked am I that most secure and comfortable I am is in the arms of a former assassin? _

After donuts and coffee, or tea in Ziva's case, they got in the car and started to drive in the general direction of DC. For the first hour they drove in silence then Ziva decided to break silence. From his mood she knew she had a window of opportunity to approach him.

"How long have you had nightmares?" she asked him.

"Nightmares, most of my life. They sort of happen naturally when your mother dies in a hospital bed with you sitting right beside her while watching a movie, or when you're father forgets about you in a hotel room for three days in Hawaii," he said.

"How long have you been having your current nightmares then?" she asked.

"Started during the recent undercover op. Kept dreaming about the victims of the weapons I was selling. It's been haunting me," he admitted to her.

Guilt. She understood guilt. It was part of her daily life. The nightmares had stopped for her but the guilt remained. The men and women she had either killed or tortured at her father's bidding were part of the guilt she carried with her. But she now used NCIS as a way to deal with that guilt. Doing good, solving murders, and bringing closure and justice made the guilt less. It made her feel like she was slowly earning redemption.

"I understand," she said.

"You understand that I'm damaged goods now. You understand that I've got a bucket full of guilt that I'm carrying over that fucking op and that almost three months in a coma and two rounds in my chest didn't do my already scarred lungs any good. I got a doctor telling me I have to make major changes to my life if I want to continue being a field agent. He wants me to start using a nebulizer every night for inhalation therapy to see if we can break some of that scar tissue on my lungs, or maybe increase my lung capacity. He also wants me to carrying an inhaler, like some little boy with asthma, not to mention change my diet and exercise regime," he started to open up even though there was part of him that didn't want to, but she was Ziva and even if he couldn't be with her because he refused to be a burden on her, he loved her.

"Oh, Ahuvi, I am here for you," she said. "What your doctor asks of you isn't too much as long as it keeps you healthy and the nightmares will stop, once you realize that there is still good you can do to atone for what you have done."

"Is that what you are here with me? Atonement?" he asked her.

"I am here because I love you," she said without taking he eyes off the road.

"Don't love me, Zi. I've got a lot of mileage and a lot of damage on me. There is a lot tread worn off these tires. You're young, too beautiful for words, and the strongest most amazing woman I've ever met. Find someone worth loving, Zi. Find someone who can give you what you need and what you deserve," he said.

"I have," she smiled.

"Don't give me that Mon Lisa smile and expect that I'll just go along with what you want," he said.

"You will do it because you know I love you and you love me," she said then smiled that smile again. "And because you know I am stubborn and won't give up until I get what I want."

"I'm doomed," he sighed.

"Maybe," she said.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Nine

Wyoming followed Idaho then there was Nebraska until they hit Missouri. Ziva drove and maintained her tactic of not pushing Tony too hard. With each succeeding state their sleeping arrangement changed, a sign that the walls between them were slowly coming down. In Wyoming they had double beds and she waited to join him in his bed until his nightmares kicked in. He didn't push her away and he didn't complain. In Nebraska they had double beds in the room but she slept with him leaving one of the beds empty. At first he argued about this but he lost that argument. She said that he needed a night's sleep without nightmares. In Missouri they forwent the double beds and shared a queen sized bed.

"You just want to sleep in the same bed with me because you want my body," Tony joked with her.

"You are not as stupid as you look," she said as she laid her head on his chest.

She lay there listening to his heartbeat. Somehow just listening to his heart gave her a sense of security.

"Why?" he asked simply.

"Why what?" she countered.

"Why me?" he asked.

"Because all the other candidates for me to love for the rest of my life are either dead or doing life in prison," she joked.

Tony chuckled at this. It was nice to know that they could laugh at such a sensitive subject.

"Why me, Zi?" he asked again.

"Tony, I've loved you before Michael, before Ray, but rules kept us apart. Now, I no longer care about the rules. I just want you," she said.

"I'm not worth it," Tony said.

"If you're not worth then I'm not worth it, Ahuvi," she said. "I have done things that I regret, things which leave me with great guilt. Working at NCIS helps that guilt because I know I am doing good there. What you did in Portland should help your guilt because you did good there. You must hold onto the good you do and accept that you are worthy of being loved."

"When did my ninja become so introspective?" he asked her.

"When she stopped being and assassin and started being a human being," she answered him.

He smiled. She saw that it was a sincere smile, one of his real smiles, not a mask covering something up.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him.

"In the movie Diner, Mickey Rourke plays a character named Boogie. He has this great line while talking to this guy who just paid his gambling debt and is offering him a job: If _you don't have good dreams, Bagel, you got nightmares_. You give me good dreams, Ziva David," he said.

Instead telling him how much this comment meant to her, she showed him by giving him a passionate kiss. He responded in kind.

"I love you, Anthony DiNozzo," she said.

"I guess I love you, too, Ziva David," he said.

"Now that we have that out of the way, can we make love tonight? I am horny," she smiled.

"Damn, I love you, sweet cheeks," he said.

NCIS

Kalil Greene sat in the human resources department of NCIS. Since the contract on Anthony DiNozzo wasn't going well so far, he decided to take a more active role in its completion.

"Mr. Kevin Greene, please come with me," Debbie from human resources said with a smile as she motioned him to enter her office.

He walked into the office and sat down in a chair in front of her desk. She sat and reviewed his resume.

"From 18 to twenty-five you were a marine then you left the marine corp. That was six years ago. You have don't very much since then," she said.

"I admit that I went on a bit of journey of self discovery," he smiled.

"What did you find?" she asked him.

"That my money was finite. I'm broke," he said.

"So you are now applying for a security position here at NCIS?" she said.

"I thought it would be a nice way to serve my country once again," he said.

"Well, you are a patriot," she said.

NCIS

Ziva pulled into the Comfort Inn at Lexington, Kentucky. Finally, they were pulling into hotel, even if it wasn't a luxury hotel, and they were going to sleep in the same bed and maybe they wouldn't even sleep. Tony noticed that Ziva was smiling to herself.

"Why so happy?" he asked her.

"I am tired of motels," she said.

"Yeah, me, too," he said.

"Maybe we even can get some real tonight instead of fast food. I'd like to see you start eating healthy," she said to him.

"Are you trying to prolong my life?" he asked her.

"I may have need for you for some time to come," she said.

"Glad that someone has need of me," he said softly.

Ziva looked at me. It was Tony, maybe not the old Tony, but Tony. And in time she would help him become the old Tony again. She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"We need to get a room," she said.

Ziva picked the restaurant, or in truth told Tony she would only drive him to a restaurant she wanted to go to. He wore his Armani blazer, a pair of cream colored pants and a blue dress shirt, while she dressed in a black dress cut just above the knee. She brought it just in case.

The restaurant was called Belle Notte. They sat outside under a tree. Since she picked the restaurant she allowed Tony to order for them.

"Would you like to order?" the waiter asked.

"Bene," he said. "We'll start with the Chianti pear salad, followed by Pom Pom salmon, and end our meal with the dolce wood oven roasted banana bread pudding. With the Primi Piatti and Piatti we'll share a bottle of Berigner, pinot noir and with the dolce Italian roast coffee," he ordered.

"Excellent," the waiter said then walked away.

Tony looked at Ziva: "I hope that was healthy enough for you."

"It sounds delicious, but I will have to work off the bread pudding after the meal," she purred making Tony smile. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"I think the hotel has a pool," he smirked.

"Yes, I do feel like getting wet, but not in a pool," she said.

"I see we are going to subtly," he laughed.

"I have to work with who my audience is," she retorted.

"Do you think insulting me will get you anywhere with me?" he asked.

"I'll let you be on top," she smiled.

"You really don't play fair, do you?" he said.

"Not when I want something or someone badly enough," she said.

"Zi, I still don't know if I want to return to NCIS," he said changing the mood of the dinner.

"Why?"

"Being forced by Jarvis took take that op and into hurting you, Gibbs, and Abby was the hardest thing in my life, but even harder was how easy you believed me. No one tried to stop me. You tried to put me in a hospital and Gibbs just turned his back on me. Abby, well, Abby just cried. I felt so alone. I didn't blame you guys but I realized that alone was the way I spent most of my life," he told her.

"Tony, I am sorry for how I reacted. You... you hurt him. More than my father, Michael, Ray, the thought of you betraying my trust gave me such pain I lashed out," she said.

"Zi, I pushed your buttons. I knew what I was doing. Just like I pushed Gibbs' buttons. I manipulated the situation and I paid the price for my fucking skill at pushing people away," he said.

"You cannot push me away. I will not be pushed," she said.

"Zi, all the things I've done the past year or so. The regrets and guilt, sometimes it is almost overwhleming," he confided in her.

"I understand, Ahuvi, better than you realize. I believe you need NCIS and NCIS needs you. But if you want to leave it, leave DC then I will just have to adjust because where you go, I go from now on," she told him.

"Ziva, you don't mean that," he said.

"Yes, Ahuvi, I mean it," she told him.

"If that's the case I'll think long and hard about leaving NCIS, though I am pretty much sure I don't want back on the MCRT," he said.

"But Gibbs won't have anyone else as his senior field agent," she said.

"Stan is doing just fine," said Tony.

"He is what I told Abby even when I thought I hated you - he is a Stan in," she smiled.

"A pun and not a bad one," he said. "You're proud of yourself."

"Yes, I am," she beamed.

NCIS

Fornell drained the bourbon from the mason jar and placed it down on Gibbs' makeshft work table for a refill. Gibbs filled it up.

"Greene is still a mystery to us," said Fornell.

"No theories or ideas?" asked Gibbs.

"The problem is we have too many of those. From he is a ghost, a madeup name, used by many to that he is a naturalized American citizen who converted to Islam but has kept it from most people," said Fornell.

Gibbs sipped his bourbon: "He's real."

"Is that your famous gut talking?" asked Fornell.

"What does you gut tell you?" asked Gibbs.

"That the bastard is not only real but clever," said Fornell.

"We need him if we are going to find the money man and end this once and for all," said Gibbs.

"You miss, DiNozzo," Fornell stated.

"He... being without him the last year has been one of the most difficult years of my life. Not since I lost Shannon and Kelly have I felt this wrong. I knew something was up with him, but I let him push my buttons and manipulate me. I let him down," he said.

"We make mistakes with our children and when we do, we have to make amends with them," said Fornell.

"He's not my child," said Gibbs.

"You're more of father to him than his own, Jethro, and you know it," said Fornell. "He's your son, like Abby and Ziva are your daughters and McGee is your nephew. They are your family."

"Then I let my son down and I have to change that," said Gibbs.

"You'll make it right with DiNutso," said Fornell.

"You think," said Gibbs.

"Yeah, I've never met a man who admired someone so completely as he admires you. He probably doesn't even blame you, but blames himself. The man loves you, Jethro," said Fornell.

Gibbs drank some more bourbon trying to hide his emotions in the alcohol: "Not helping, Tobias."

NCIS

In the darkness of their hotel room Tony and Ziva made love and by doign this he dropped the last of his walls and letting her in completely. All the years of dancing around each other finally had ended. As they climaxed together and fell into each other's arms, both of them knew that they were not going to be parting anytime soon.

"You know I longer have an apartment in DC. I need to get one," said Tony.

"No, you do not need one," she said.

"Yeah, I'm afraid I do. That is if you expect me to remain in DC," Tony said.

"No, Tony, you do not need one," she said again.

"What? You expect me to stay with Gibbs," he laughed.

"Ahuvi, you will be living with me," she said.

"Aren't you afraid that Gibbs will be pissed that we are breaking rule 12?" he asked you.

"No," she smiled.

"Really?" he said.

"If he does then I won't invite him to our wedding," she said.

"Ziva David, are you asking me to marry you?" he asked.

"What is your answer?" she asked.

He thought about it for a moment then smiled: "If you're foolish enought to want me then I'm foolish enough to say yes."

"See, you do not need an apartment," she laughed.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Ten

Gibbs was looking down at the report Fornell had forwarded to him. It was a FBI profiler's breakdown of Kalil Greene. So far from what he read it was useless with a hint of over thinking.

"Agent Gibbs," a voice interrupted him.

He looked up and saw a young man dressed in a security uniform. The guard was blonde and he held himself like he had been in the military.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Kevin Greene, I'm new to the NCIS security force," he introduced himself.

"Marine?" asked Gibbs.

"I was, sir," he said.

"Don't call me sir. I work for a living, Greene," said Gibbs.

"Yes, Gunny," he smiled.

"So how can I help you, Greene?" Gibbs asked. _Greene. I don't believe in coincidences but Kevin Greene isn't Kalil Green. Maybe I'm getting paranoid in my old age. _

"Just wanted to meet the famous Agent Gibbs and his MCRT. I've heard so much about you and your team, Agent Gibbs," he said.

"Well, I'm down a few on my team at a moment," said Gibbs.

"Well, I'd love to meet the whole team some day," Greene said.

"When they are together, I'll introduce you to them," he said.

With a smile on his face Greene walked out of the bullpen and to the elevator. He got on and proceeded back to his position at the security desk. All he needed was patience and DiNozzo would come to him.

NCIS

"Okay, so you are going to force me to listen to Brad, the man who ruined my football career, my doctor, my friend, and now my it seems my trainer, and then you want me to say NCIS to find redemption," said Tony.

Ziva nodded as she drove them through the scenic route of West Virginia.

"Maybe I'll give it a try," he sighed.

"You are stuck with me," she said.

"And you really want to marry me?" he asked.

"Yes. I would like to do that sooner more than later," she said.

"Afraid Gibbs is going to not allow it because it breaks one of his rules. Remember, I'm not part of his team anymore. I haven't been for some time. Hell, I'm not part of anyone's team right now," he said.

"You will always be part of Gibbs' team, Tony, and you know it," Ziva said.

"So, do we have a quiet wedding, or should we tell Abby and let her plan a monster wedding?" he asked changing the subject.

Ziva smiled: "I haven't decided."

"You do realize that you are my crazy ninja and I'll do this for you," he said.

_"_Yes, I know. And you are my furry butt," she said.

"Should I call Gibbs and tell him we are almost back in DC?" he asked.

"No. I want one more uninterrupted night in a hotel with you before we are back in DC," she said.

"Okay, I'll agree to that," Tony said. "I'll call Gibbs in the morning."

"Can we stay at nice hotel this time?" she asked. "We have been in the road for a month taking this slowly like you wanted to. Tony, I need a comfortable bed and a bathroom I'm not afraid of."

"Why not? You've basically forced me back into town before I burned through my budget. I've got plenty of cash on me," he said.

"Good," she smiled.

NCIS

Tony's choice was the Cavalier Hotel on Virginia Beach. A brick masterpiece among the less attractive examples of modern architecture, Tony and Ziva checked into a suite with a front room, a bedroom and a bathroom with a large deep bathtub that immediately drew Ziva's attention. After days of showering in places she wasn't too sure of, the bathtub was a bit of heaven.

As she bathed, Tony ordered them room service. For Ziva he ordered butternut squash & roasted apple bisque, Cinnamon spiced scallops and chocolate mouse. He ordered for himself peppered bacon scallops along with filet of beef and chocolate cake. Also, he ordered them a bottle of Maso Canali 2007 and a pot of coffee.

By the time Ziva exited the bathroom in a white terry cloth robe, the food was set up on the dining room table and Tony was sipping a glass of wine in one hand and offering her a glass with the other.

"This looks perfect," she said.

"Sometimes ridiculously good taste comes in handy," he said.

She took the white wine and sampled it.

"This is delicious," she said then she looked at the food: "And I am starving."

He held out a chair for her. She sat down tossing her hair back as she did. Before he went to his chair, Tony ran his hand through her wild hair evoking a moan of pleasure from Ziva.

"Let's eat then we can figure something out to do for the rest of the evening," he said.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you, too," he smiled.

He sat down and joined her. As Ziva sampled the food and moaned in delight, he looked at the woman, who was slowly becoming his one reason not to give up. When the op end and he woke up from his coma, he lacked a reason to go on. His sense of right and wrong and his place in the world had been compromised, but Ziva intruded in his and in doing so had started to give him reason.

Yeah, he was damaged. And she was damaged. But together maybe they were a little less damaged which made the whole damned thing easier.

"Do you like your food?" she asked him.

"It's great," he said.

"I should let you order our food more often," she smiled.

It was a smile that allowed him to see the little girl she used to be. He wouldn't mind having a daughter that looked like that. Of course, he'd never raise her to be an assassin. He'd raise her to be a princess who could become anything she wanted to be.

"Zi, do you children?" he asked.

"Right now?" she asked with one raised eyebrow.

"Not right now, but in general."

"Do you?" she asked him.

"Yes. I want a daughter that looks exactly like her mother," he said.

He could see his remark drew tears. With the back of her hand she wiped at her hands.

"I would like that," she said.

"Well, then we'll just have to give it to you," he said.

A smile that was unmistakable played on her lips making Tony start to feel a little hot under the collar. He fought the urge to pick her up and carry him to the bed.

"I'm not sure which I prefer for dessert, chocolate mouse or you. Hmm, maybe I can combine the two and make it perfect," she said.

"Eat your chocolate mouse and we'll deal with the rest afterwards," he said.

"I think I've decided. I want to get married right away. We can talk to Gibbs about it," said Ziva.

"You want him to give away the bride," smiled Tony.

"I'm afraid Eli wouldn't give me away to you, Tony. Actually, he might kidnap the bride and assassinate the groom," she said.

"You know it's good to know where I stand with the in-laws," he said.

NCIS

Virginia turned into DC. There first stop was Ziva's Georgetown apartment. Carrying their luggage into her apartment, they stared at each other for a moment before Ziva broke the silence.

"I would like to go to Gibbs tonight and talk to him. Can we?" she asked.

Tony looked down at the floor. It had been a long time since he'd seen or talk to his mentor. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach.

"Okay," he said.

She came over and kissed his cheek: "Thank you."

"I'm leaving the sling here," he said, as he slipped it off. "I don't need Gibbs seeing me recovering from yet another fuck up."

"You didn't fuck up, Tony," she said.

"I nearly fell off a bridge. Now that is a fuck up in my opinion," he smirked.

"I'm not going to argue with you. Come on, we should get going," she said.

Gibbs was now staining the rocking chair. A smile cracked his face as he heard familiar footsteps walking towards the basement door. The door opened and Ziva and Tony came walking down the steps.

"About time," said Gibbs.

"Miss me, boss?" asked Tony.

"Of course, I missed my senior field agent," he said.

"You got Stan," said Tony.

"Stan is not you," was the simple answer given by Gibbs.

"We have come to give you some news," said Ziva then she looked at Tony.

"Please, feel free," Tony said to Ziva and got a glare in return.

"Someone want to tell me this news before heads are slapped," Gibbs said.

"I am...we are getting married," said Ziva.

"We? You and I or you and Tony, Ziva?" he smiled.

"Tony and I are getting married, Gibbs. We wanted to tell you," Ziva said.

"Rule...," he was about to expound on a rule when Tony stepped in.

"I don't work for you, Gibbs. I'm no longer part of the team and technically I'm not part of NCIS right now," Tony said.

"DiNozzo, do you mind if I finish what I have to say?" asked Gibbs.

"Sorry, boss," said Tony, as Ziva elbowed him in his ribs.

"As I was going to say, rule 51, sometimes I'm wrong. I've been wrong about you two," Gibbs said.

He walked over and kissed Ziva on the cheek then offered his hand to Tony, who shook it. Both Ziva and Tony smiled in relief.

"This is number one for the two of you," said Gibbs, who then looked at Tony. "I was on number our by the time I was your age."

Gibbs walked and took two mason jars and emptied them then poured bourbon into them he freshened his own his mug of coffee and bourbon, which was more bourbon than coffee. He handed out the drinks. They lifted them into a toast.

"Semper fi," Gibbs said.

"Semper fi," Ziva and Tony said in unison then they drank the bourbon.

"You coming to work tomorrow, DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs.

"I'm still on leave," he said.

"Not an answer," Gibbs pointed out.

"I think you should," said Ziva. "Abby will want to see you and McGee and Ducky and Jimmy."

"And you can talk to Vance about your future," said Gibbs.

"I'll come in with Ziva in the morning," he said.

"Good," smiled Gibbs.

NCIS

Ziva's alarm went off. Reluctantly, they got out of bed and prepared for NCIS. Besides an extended delay in the shower caused by Tony's refusal to waste an erection, then Ziva had to wait as Tony got dressed. For the first time in some time, he chose a Brioni tan suit with a blue dress shirt and red silk tie. When he exited the bedroom, Ziva gave him an approving nod.

"We are late because of you pimping and peeing," she said.

"That's primping and preening," he smiled.

"I am driving," she said.

"I won't argue. I'll just close my eyes and pray," he said.

They arrived at NCIS in record time. Ziva waltzed through security, while Tony had to show his id and badge to some of the newer security people. They got on the elevator, as Kevin Greene was getting off. Immediately Greene recognized Tony and in one quick motion he drew his sidearm. Ziva reacted quickly pushing Tony out of the way just as Greene fired. The bullet tore through her left side.

With feral growl Tony pushed Ziva out away from the elevator then he tackled Greene into the elevator. As the doors shut, he connected with a left to Greene's jaw then turned and pressed for the third floor. As he came back around Green lifted his sidearm to fire at Tony, who then viciously kicked out him.

Gibbs sat at his desk when he heard the first gunfire. He looked up and saw McGee and Stan react the same way as he did. All three men went for their Sig Sauers and headed towards the elevator. As they waited for the elevator to come they heard another gunshot.

As the telltale ding went off and the doors began to open, a good nine agents with Gibbs in the lead stood with their guns ready to fire. The elevator door opened to show Greene lying on the elevator floor holding a bullet wound in his right thigh and Tony holding his gun.

With wild angry eyes he looked at Gibbs. He tossed the weapon to him then said: "Bastard shot Ziva."

He pushed aside people and ran to the stairwell, pushed open the door and ran down the stairs to get to Ziva. Gibbs reached in and turned on the emergency stop then he looked at the bleeding Greene.

"McGee, call a bus for Kalil Greene and make sure an agent never leaves his side until he is in my interrogation room," snarled Gibbs.

"Yes, boss," said McGee.

Gibbs then followed Tony's path to Ziva.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Eleven

Tony reached Ziva in time to see her being loaded into the ambulance. He pushed his way past people and guards and reached the doors before they closed.

"I'm coming with her," he demanded.

The EMT looked at him with an expression of doubt: "Who are you?"

He flashed his badge: "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. I'm here boyfriends and I believer her life may still be in danger."

He nodded and Tony got into the back of the ambulance and shut the doors. Looking down at Ziva he saw the EMT adjusting an IV, that was in her right arm. She looked at him and smiled.

"I got shot this time," she mumbled.

"How is she?" Tony asked the EMT.

"GSW on her left side, through and through. They have to take her into surgery to check on what kind of damage was done. She stable now," he said.

He moved aside to let Tony get close to her. Taking her right hand his both his hands, he whispered in her ear: "You know I already said say to the marriage, so you didn't have to make such a grand gesture. Very Kevin Costner in My Bodyguard."

"Does that make you the woman?" she smiled.

"Very funny," he said the he leaned in right next to ear. "I love you."

NCIS

Gibbs arrived at the ER waiting room of Georgetown Hospital to see Tony pacing back and forth. He walked up to him and stood in front of him to force him to stop pacing.

"You are going to wear yourself out, DiNozzo. Pace yourself," he said.

"That bullet was meant for me," he stared into his mentor's eyes. "She shouldn't have pushed me aside."

Gibbs slapped the back of his head then said: "She loves you. Why? I'm not sure, but she does."

"You have bastard who shot her?" he asked.

"Stan and McGee aren't leaving his side. The second they can they are taking him to back to NCIS for interrogation," said Gibbs.

"Unless we take him," said Fornell, who entered the waiting room.

"Don't recommend it, Tobias," said Gibbs. "He belongs to us."

Gibbs turned and faced him.

"I'll agree to that if we are there for it," said Fornell.

"Done," agreed Gibbs.

A doctor entered the waiting room and looked around. Besides Tony, Gibbs, and Fornell there were several other people.

"Family of Ziva David?" he inquired.

"I'm here boyfriend," Tony said drawing a raised eyebrow from Fornell.

"And I'm here boss," added Gibbs.

"Either of you her next of kin officially?" he asked.

Before anyone could answer Tony dramatically put his hands on his hips and in doing so pushed back his suit jacket to show the doctor his Sig Sauer.

"Forget I asked that," he said. "She is in post op and recovering fine. She had some tissue and muscle damage but luckily the bullet missed anything too important."

"It didn't miss her," growled Tony.

"Down boy," said Gibbs with a smile.

"She'll be in a private room in two hours. Until then I recommend you get coffee or something," the doctor said then he made an exit.

"I'll take DiNozzo to the cafeteria for a coffee and bagel," said Fornell.

"I'll call Abby and Ducky and meet you there," said Gibbs.

NCIS

He entered her room and she was still groggy from all the drugs she'd been given. Tony stood silently and stared at her peaceful face as she seemingly slept. Slightly paler then her usually coloring, she still looked like the most beautiful creature alive to him.

"Either kiss me or take my hand, but just don't stand there," she said without opening her eyes.

"That's my ninja," he said.

He walked over to the side of the bed, leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"You have to stop saving my life," he said.

"I still owe you for saving mine," she smiled.

He grabbed a chair and sat down beside her bed.

"Abby, Ducky, Gibbs and everyone want to see you, are you up or it?" he asked her.

"I'd rather just see you right this moment," she lifted her left hand for him to hold.

He grabbed it like a greed child grabbing a toy and held it.

"I hope they'll understand," she mumbled. "Tired."

"Sleep. They'll understand. You need to sleep, my love," he said.

"Okay," she said then she opened her eyes. "You'll be here when I wake up."

"I'm on protection duty. I'm not going anywhere," he said.

"Good," she smiled and drifted off to sleep.

NCIS

He left Ziva in the competent hands of Ducky, Abby, and Jimmy, who swore they wouldn't leave her until he returned. Gibbs had called to let him know that Kalil was being taking into interrogation today. He had to be there for that.

As he arrived in the observation room, Stan, McGee, Fornell, and Sacks along with Vance were already staring at Kalil through the two way. When he entered they all looked at him.

"Agent DiNozzo, are you back on duty?" Vance asked.

"If that is what it takes for me to be here right now, yes," he answered defensively.

"It was just a question," said Vance, who knew that he had a long way to go to build up any trust with DiNozzo. He was in the room when SecNav ruined his life and he didn't do anything to stop it until the damage was done.

"Where's Gibbs?" he asked.

"Preparing," answered Stan.

"He hasn't said anything during his time in the hospital?" asked Tony.

"He's a tough nut to crack, Tony," said McGee.

"You just need the right tool and it isn't Gibbs; it's me," said Tony.

"Really, DiNutso, why?" asked Fornell.

"Because he came to kill me. I can get under his skin," Tony said.

"I agree," said Gibbs, who was now standing behind Tony.

Tony almost jumped off the ground from surprise, which brought a smile to everyone's face.

"He needs to be on active duty to interrogate a witness," said Vance.

"So, activate him and put him back on my team," said Gibbs.

"I've got a better idea, if you are willing to hear me out, Agent DiNozzo," said Vance.

"Yes, sir."

"I have yet to replace my deputy director. I can activate you and make you the acting deputy director until we figure things out," offered Vance.

"Yes, that's a little above my pay level," he said.

"DiNozzo, you spent almost a year undercover turning yourself into a hot shot arms dealer. I think you can handle this. Do you accept my offer?" Vance asked.

"I accept," he said.

"Here," Gibbs slapped Kalil's file into his stomach, "go get him, Deputy Director."

Tony took the file and exited the room. He reappeared in a matter of moments in the interrogation room. The moment he saw him Kalil got agitated.

"You are here," he spat.

"Hey, Kev, how are you doing? My name is Tony," Tony smiled and sat across from him.

"I've never see DiNozzo interrogate someone," said Stan.

"Get the popcorn. He's put on a show," said Vance drawing a smile from Gibbs.

"Kev, why don't you like me?" he asked Kalil.

"My name is not Kevin," he said.

"It says right here," Tony said showing him his file. "Kevin. It's your Christian name."

"I converted to Islam," said Kalil.

"Not in the file, so I can't believe you. Do you have proof? Maybe a secret decoder ring or maybe the names and location of those you affiliate with so I can ask them if you're Muslim or not," smiled Tony.

"You are trying to make a fool out of me," said Kalil.

"Nay, you'll do that yourself. You already proved you can't shot the right person," chuckled Tony.

"I shot your woman," said Kalil.

"She is fine," said Tony then he smiled a licentious smile. "She's really fine."

"Remind me to slap his head for that," said Gibbs, as he watched his agent.

"So, you waved a lawyer, further proof you're not Einstein," smiled Tony.

"I don't need a lawyer," said Kalil.

"From what I can tell you need small arms practice and a lawyer," laughed Tony, goading him a little more.

He could tell from the color in Kalil's face he was getting closer and closer to losing his temper.

"So, Kev..."

"Kevin is not my name. It is Kalil."

Tony showed him the file again: "Kev, I've got to go with what I have. You're Kevin Greene, traitor to your country and bon vivant."

"I should have killed you," he growled.

"Should have, but you missed. Nay, nay, nay, naaay," he smiled. "I'm hard to kill. I'm sort of like John McClane, except I have more hair than Bruce Willis. And better looking. Oh, and more charming. You find me charming, don't you, Kevin?"

"Smug bastard. No wonder Karim wants you dead," he spat.

Tony smiled and laughed: "This is over Tabil's death. Kev, I didn't kill him. Gibbs did."

Tony got up and walked out of the interrogation leaving a pissed of Kalil.

"Wow, that was entertaining," said Stan.

"That's DiNozzo," chuckled Gibbs.

NCIS

The FBI and NCIS went on a nationwide hunt for Karim. He was discovered hiding in Brooklyn, New York with FBI getting credit for his arrest. Gitmo was still open, so Karim had a cell waiting for him there. Tony didn't care who got the credit just as long as he was caught. Ziva was released from the hospital and was giving desk duty until cleared by Ducky.

It was her first day back when she came into the bullpen to see Stan and McGee joking and Gibbs ignoring them. Tony had left two hours ahead of her for work because Vance had given the duty of making the rounds with field officers in MTAC.

"Hey, Ziva, you looking good," said McGee.

She smiled. Before she left she had a call from her doctor, who had run some blood tests on her because she was feeling a little off. His news made her feel very good.

"Where is Tony?" she asked.

"MTAC," answered Gibbs.

She got up and walked over to Gibbs desk and asked in a low voice: "How is he doing?"

"Fine," he answered looking up at him.

"And Vance?" she asked.

"He told me that DiNozzo has done nothing but surprise for two weeks. He wants to remove the temporary, but he's afraid Tony will say no," Gibbs confided in her.

"He will not refuse. He will want the job," she said.

"How do you know?" asked Gibbs.

"I know," she said then she looked up and saw Tony standing on the mezzanine landing staring down at her. He was in a Brioni charcoal grey three piece suit with a light blue shirt and black silk tie.

"I need to talk to him," she said then she slowly made her way up to the mezzanine.

Walking over to Tony she motioned him to lean down a bit so she could whisper in his ear. Vance exited his office in time to witness his temporary deputy director and Agent David.

"The doctor told me I am pregnant," she whispered in his ear.

If he needed proof that redemption exists he had just being given empirical proof. A big smile lit up his face. Vance looked over at him. And Tony grinned at him.

"Ziva's pregnant," he said.

"Congratulations, DiNozzo. Can I see you in my office right this moment?" Vance asked him.

Tony lifted Ziva in his arms and kissed her.

"I'll be done in the bullpen in a moment," he said.

She walked down the stairs under the watchful eye of Gibbs.

"I am pregnant, Gibbs," she said.

"Congratulations, Ziva," he smiled.

"Oh, no, a little DiNozzo," said McGee.

"Speak well of my child, Tim, or I'll have to hurt you," she warned him.

"You'll make a great mother, Ziva," said Stan.

Tony came bounding down the stairs. The smile that appeared on his face earlier was still there. Gibbs looked at him and shook his head. His agent, his boy, had finally grown up.

"I'm no longer temporary deputy director," Tony said.

"Do you need your desk back?" asked Stan hopefully.

"No, I have an office," laughed Tony. "I am the deputy director, no more temporary."

"Ahuvi, now that you have knocked me up when are we getting married?" Ziva asked.

"Whenever you want, my love," Tony said.

"I'll get back to work. This isn't a playpen, it's a bullpen," Gibbs ordered.

"Be good to her, boss, you have to walk her down the aisle soon," said Tony. "Now, I'm due back in MTAC."

Tony walked back up the stairs and disappeared into MTAC. Ziva watched him as he went. Gibbs looked over at her.

"Walk you down the aisle?" he asked.

"Yes, Gibbs," she smiled.

"When?"

"Soon," she answered.


End file.
